Trojans' ladies go into Saturday's England Women's Hockey Western Conference opener against Slough at Stoneham Lane in a confident mood following an encouraging pre-season programme.

They played against Dutch and Belgian sides before completing their warm up programme with a 4-0 win over Havant and a 3-2 victory against Horsham.

Annabel Field scored all four goals against Havant.

“Trojans have used 24 players in the pre-season games, so aspiring youngsters have been given the opportunity to impress and stake a claim for a first team spot,” said head coach Chris Gittens.

The Stoneham club look set to include two foreign faces for the noon push-back against Slough.

Kewley McCaskill has joined from the Australian Premier League club Coast City, while USA Under-21 captain Molly Murphy flew in yesterday.

Lara Williamson has joined from Team Bath, Anne Eadie from Scottish champions Clydesdale alongside England Under-16 prospect Livy Hazlitt. Head coach Chris Gittens acknowledges the Western Conference is wide open “With Buckingham finally promoted, four or five teams will be aiming for a top three finish. We were fourth last season and look to improve on that.”

Fareham men begin their Western Conference programme against newly promoted Barford Tigers at Henry Cort, from 1.30.