London: India's chief coach Roelant Oltmans has warned his team to guard against complacency when they take on Malaysia in the quarterfinal of the Hockey World League Semi-Final, here tomorrow.
Ranked sixth in the world, India start as overwhelming favourites against the 14th placed Malaysia but the 0-1 defeat against the same opponents last month in the Azlan Shah Cup Oltmans' men would be fresh in the minds of the Indians, going into tomorrow's game.
"We need to play with caution and give no room for mistakes because even a little bit of complacency in the knockout stage will put us out of the tournament," cautioned Oltmans.
"Malaysia is a good side and no opponent can be taken lightly."
He is pleased with the display of his strikers so far in the tournament, but the Dutchman said India need to improve with every game.
"This has been a good aspect for us with the team scoring some fantastic field goals and I am pleased with how the forwards have done so far.
"However, we must get better and better with each match and still there are some areas of concern such as starting well and starting consistently well," Oltmans said.
