A buoyant India will look to carry their winning momentum in the do-or-die encounter against Korea in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and book a place in the semi-finals of the 15th Sultan Azlan Shah eight-nation hockey tournament.
With one defeat and one win under their belt, India need to beat the Koreans to make it to the knock-out stage of the tournament, where they finished sixth and last in the previous edition.
"The big win against Malaysia has certainly boosted our confidence, but we need to play much better to beat the Koreans tomorrow. It will not be easy, but not impossible if we manage to score a couple of early goals," said coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran as the Indian team enjoyed a day's break on Tuesday.
Korea are atop pool A with four points, following the 2-2 draw with Malaysia and a shock 3-0 win against Olympic champions Australia, who have three points from a 4-1 victory over India.
With Australia expected to beat Malaysia tomorrow, the Indians have no option but to win against Korea to advance to the knock-out stage.
On the other hand, Korea require just a draw since they are better placed on goal-difference (plus-3) as compared to India (0).
Bhaskaran felt that the 4-1 scoreline against Australia in the first match did not reflect the right picture.
"The two early goals we conceded did us in. The Koreans showed that if you could deny the Aussies early success and then slow down the pace, it would be an even contest. We had planned precisely that, but failed to execute.
"It was different against Malaysia as we took an early lead and built on that," he said, summing up India's performance so far.
Looking ahead to the game against Korea tomorrow, the coach said: "We certainly have a good chance to win. I was happy at the way our forwards played against Malaysia and if they sustain that form, then we can progress in the tournament.
"The Koreans are quick on the counter-attacks and our marking has to be spot on."
The pressure will be on Indian deep defenders, who will be walking on egg shells for fear of conceding penalty-corners to Korea, who have a quality specialist in Jang Jong Hyun. His two conversions against Australia proved decisive as also the one in the opener that helped his team draw with Malaysia.
The Indians have so far conceded nine penalty-corners in two matches and Bhaskaran admitted that the deep defence needs to tighten up.
"Too many silly mistakes. It cost us two goals against Australia and also Malaysia. We are obviously working on this aspect of our game and, hopefully, we will get it right tomorrow," he said.
The Indian camp also received the happy news that forward Rajpal Singh, who is nursing a twisted ankle and missed the Malaysia game, would be fit for the tie against Korea.
"We will be taking a fitness test this evening and tomorrow morning before deciding. I don't want to rush Rajpal into a match," said Bhaskaran.
The coach said he would persist with player rotation, keeping in mind that some players are coming out of a long lay-off.
"Viren Rasquinha (midfield) and Dilip Tirkey (full-back, captain), have not played international hockey for over six months and they obviously need some time to get back into rhythm.
"A couple of others are down on form, so I have to nurse them back to their peak by gradually giving them more time on the field," he said.
Wednesday's fixtures (IST):
1230: India vs Korea
1430: Australia vs Malaysia.
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