Netminder Ben Bowns believes Great Britain are involved in a tougher group at this year’s World Championship tournament in Belfast.

GB face Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Netherlands and Japan in the six-team competition as they look to secure promotion to Division 1A.

Bowns missed the two games with Poland last week as he recovered from a knock picked up in the Elite League play-offs, but he’s now back and raring to go.

“It was nice to have a week off and recover, but it gave me a chance to reset and get fitter – when I watched the game on Friday, I knew it was time to get back,” said Bowns.

“As a team we’ve learned from what’s happened in the last two years. We’ve got enough experience in the room and it still burns that we’ve come up short.

“It’s a tough group we’ve got for sure and I think it’s a better group than we’ve had in the past two years, but that can only be good for us and make sure we win that gold this time.

“Playing in front of your own fans can add more pressure certainly, but you want to win in front of everyone and when you get to the end of the week, they can give that little push you need.

“That being said, we miss going somewhere where the weather is good. That’s one of the good things about going abroad, but we’ll take that home crowd over the weather.”

(Image permission: Karl Denham)