St Albans Ladies head coach Hannah Macleod is looking forward to an “exciting season” for the club.

The GB international is currently involved in the Hockey Champions Trophy, the final part of the team’s preparation for the Rio Olympics.

But her thoughts are never far from her “awesome” club.

She told the Herts Ad: “All the planning has been done. I’ve made sure all the training sessions have been planned, fixtures have been booked. That was my job before I came away.

“I’m looking forward to it. We’re recruiting players, which is fantastic. I’m sending a few e-mails to say very sorry but I’m going to be busy, hopefully, for the summer but can’t wait to see you pre-season.

“It should be a really exciting season.

“We’ve been building and things are starting to fall into place with a lot of the groundwork we’re doing at the club.

“We’re making sure we’ve got a good junior section in place to feed the first-team as our ambition is to move to the Premier league and be one of the best clubs in the country.

“We’ve got the facilities, the passion, the infrastructure, the support and it’s just getting a bit more backing.

“But it should be good.”

Great Britain opened their Champions Trophy campaign with a 2-2 draw with Argentina on Saturday, and there were plenty form the Oaklands College club at the Lee Valley Hockey Centre to shout their support.

“As head coach they should be fitness training this weekend,” joked Macleod. “I’m keeping tabs on them.

“We had great support today. I think there were about 30 of them. I always keep an eye out for the Tangerine Army.

“The support they’ve given me is fantastic and it’s nice for them to be part of my little journey.

“And then hopefully I can go back to the club with a medal to show the kids.

“It’s an awesome club to be part of and I’m very grateful for their support, that’s for sure.”

And while Macleod is looking forward to being back in the Tangerine shirt, she is hoping that is postponed for a little while longer.

She said: “We have 31 players who train full-time together and only 16 get picked for the Olympics so it’s tough.

“People selected for this tournament are trying to stake a claim for the Olympics.

“There’s a lot at stake but the Olympic preparation is four years so this is just the icing on the cake.

“It’s all about staying fit, feeling good, and building confidence and momentum.”