MADDIE HINCH says that Great Britain must be “up for the fight” when they take on the orange powerhouse of the Netherlands in the FIH Pro League in London’s Olympic Park this afternoon.

Maddie Hinch

The goalkeeper, who blanked the Dutch in the Rio Olympic final shootout to secure gold for GB three years ago, won’t be playing despite recently returning to the international set-up after almost a year off.

But the three-times reigning FIH Goalkeeper of the Year has plenty of knowledge of the Netherlands, having played in the country with SCHC for the last three years before returning home this summer.

Despite her own success against the Dutch — she also was in goal when England beat them in the 2015 EuroHockey Nations Championship final in a shootout — she is well aware of how consistent they have been over the years.

They sit pretty at the top of the Pro League, winning 12 of 13 games outright, and have not finished with worse than a silver medal at the Olympics since 2000 and at the World Cup since 1994.

Britain came out with a creditable 2-0 defeat in Eindhoven two weeks ago, in which a young side that features only a handful of players who won gold in Rio learnt a lot.

“They’re not to be taken lightly,” Hinch said of the Oranje. “When the girls played over there recently, you heard a lot of them say they knew that if they weren’t on it, they’d be punished and that’s what happens when you play the Dutch.

“You’re so aware of how good they are that you have to step up your game — if not you will be punished.

“There’s a huge amount of respect for how good they are, but they are also a side that can be beaten, so you don’t want to give them too much.

“But you’ve got to be up for the fight and make it a difficult game for them and then take the moments when they come, because there’s not usually many of them.”

Indeed, the Netherlands have been so consistent lately, despite, like GB, having a host of players retiring after Rio.

Hinch said that the Dutch Hoofdklasse league is so strong, they cannot help but bring in great player after great player.

“I think it just comes down to the selection of players that they have,” she said. “Their club league level is so high that they can bring in players from everywhere, and [coach] Alyson [Annan] was choosing very different teams all the time [in the Pro League].

“Essentially, because they’re bringing in youngsters earlier and the talent is high at a younger age, that’s why they’re in the position where they are and that’s why no nation is really competing with them right now.”

Hinch says that there are lessons that Great Britain can learn from the Dutch system, but there are also natural and structural advantages the Netherlands has.

“Have a stronger club system,” Hinch said when asked what Britain can do differently.

“It’s difficult because the Dutch don’t have school sport, so their clubs are littered with loads and loads of kids signing up, they have waiting lists and I think that with us, you have to make a choice between school and club.

“And there’s the geographical side of it as well, people can get around a lot easier [in the Netherlands].

“So there’s some stuff that we can’t necessarily change, but I think there could be more emphasis on what we’re doing at club level and what we’re coaching.”

Britain welcome back Hinch’s fellow Rio gold medallist Lily Owsley from a groin injury, while impressive youngsters Tess Howard, who has scored three goals in GB’s last two games, Izzy Petter and Esme Burge retain their places in Mark Hager’s squad.

GB can’t qualify for the top four and a place in the Grand Final and Olympic qualification, but there are still ways in which they can qualify to defend their title in Tokyo next year.

If England win the Europeans in Antwerp, Belgium, in August, they’ll be there. Failing that, there is still a chance in a two-legged Olympic qualifier in late October/early November.

The Dutch squad contains four of Hinch’s clubmates in the Netherlands in Laurien Leurink, Caia van Maasakker, Xan de Waard and Ginella Zerbo for today’s game at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, which starts at 4pm.

And Hinch says those club-mates didn’t mind too much when she first joined SCHC after breaking their hearts at Rio 2016.

“They were absolutely fine,” she said. “They were actually very accepting, we just didn’t talk about it much!”