Wimbledon Hockey Club are potentially one win away from the Euro Hockey League, and head coach Ben Marsden is up for the challenge.

After finishing the regular MHL Premier Division season in third, Wimbledon will compete in the finals weekend at the Olympic Park this weekend.

They face Surbiton – who boast the division’s leading goalscorer in Matt Daly – in the semi-finals on Saturday, vying for a spot in the final against either Beeston or East Grinstead.

Having finished top of the league East Grinstead, favourites to beat Beeston, have already qualified for Europe – meaning the second qualification spot is likely to go to either Wimbledon or Surbiton.

Marsden said: “It’s a realistic outcome because we’d expect East Grinstead to make the final.

“Putting that to one side, going into Europe and representing the UK is a massive and expensive challenge.

“But we are up for that challenge, it has been a dream of this club to get into European competition and we are on the verge of achieving that.”

He added: “If we qualify, we’ll need to start raising the finances as soon as possible, but we’ll not shy away from doing that, and doing the club and country proud.”

Despite all the talk of crossing the English Channel for the first time, Marsden recognises that. should they fall short of the final hurdle, Wimbledon have enjoyed a wonderful season of progression, having finished fifth last season.

However, there is still room for improvement.

“We’re delighted with what we have achieved this season, in the club’s 160-year history it is the best ever,” he said.

“There is satisfaction, but there have been some results – the defeat against Hampstead on the opening day and a draw against the same club on the final day – where we should have done better.

“We’ve beaten some of the biggest teams in the league, but we know when we face the smaller teams we have to work even harder.

“Consistency of performance is the only thing need to address for next season.”