Wimbledon Hockey Club’s Ben Hawes says there is no place like home when it comes to pushing on to Olympic glory, writes Tim Ashton.

After starring in Great Britain’s opening 4-1 victory over Argentina in group A on Monday evening, Hawes revelled in the home comforts of the Olympic Park.

He said: "We are really comfortable in the surroundings as we have been training here for a long time. It is almost as if the stadium has been built up around us and we have been on the pitch a lot, which is a massive help.

"When you go away to an Olympics you just don’t know what to expect but here everyone is comfortable in our home country. It just feels right for us to perform here."

The 32-year-old star of two Olympic campaigns added: "I’ve never been to an Olympics with a team as good as this and which has the potential to go a long way."

A brace from Great Britain captain Barry Middleton and goals from Dan Fox and Richard Smith sealed the win in front of a packed and patriotic arena.

Hawes said: "We felt in control most of the game apart from a couple of periods early in the second half when it was massively important we got the second goal. We were put under pressure at times but I thought we defended brilliantly as 11 players during the whole game."

He added: "The crowd were fantastic and we responded to them with a few goals and some good attacking play. In fact the hockey as a whole has been a real positive for the Games, even the early morning matches have been well supported."

Great Britain face South Africa on Wednesday and Pakistan on Friday before taking on the world number ones in Australia, who beat South Africa 6-0 in their first match, on Sunday.

Hawes said: "We were hoping for a win tonight and to come out with a performance that was pretty comprehensive is perfect. South Africa will come back fighting after losing heavily to Australia, but I think if we play with the same belief as tonight and go into the Australia game with a few wins under our belts that will give us massive confidence."