Wales coach Zak Jones has paid tribute to his team ahead of their European men’s hockey clash against Scotland.

Having already secured promotion to the top tier in Europe after a magnificent shock victory over France in Glasgow, Wales face the Scots on Saturday in the final of the EuroHockey Championship.

Both countries are already guaranteed promotion to the next level and Jones said: “We are all looking forward to the final and will rest and prepare as well as we can for what will be another tough test against a strong Scotland side.

“It is hard to put the feelings you get at the end of a game like that (v France) and of that magnitude into words.

“However, I think the feelings at the end were ones of relief, joy and an incredible sense of achievement. I am incredibly proud of the players and staff for having created a bit of Welsh hockey history.

“It was incredible. The boys have worked so hard both on and off the field over the past 18 months and I am just so pleased that they have been rewarded for their efforts.

We are all obviously delighted – we made it difficult for ourselves in the closing few minutes and it was not good for the nerves, but the players showed incredible resilience and character to come through a tough test against a quality French side.”