REVENGE – and a rethink tactically – will be on Ludlow’s mind when they host Stafford in a potentially season-defining West Midlands Hockey League promotion six-pointer this weekend.

Ludlow’s dreams of a return to the Olympic Stadium in London were cruelly crushed as an under-strength side lost 5-0 at Stafford on Sunday in the last 16 of the England Hockey Championships.

The sides meet again on Saturday – this time at Much Wenlock – with fourth-placed Ludlow three points second-placed Stafford in Division One, knowing a win will propel them above the visitors.

Ludlow paid the price for a slow start in the cup defeat, going behind in the first couple of minutes, and skipper Sam Pratt says they will not make the same mistakes again.

He said: “Hopefully, we will give them a better game and win this time! The lads will be up for it for sure.

“We will probably change our tactics because we were very attacking against them in the cup.

“We took the game to them and kept pushing and every time we pushed, the more open we got and the more we let them in on the counter.

“The score 5-0 wasn’t a fair reflection of the game, they just took their chances and they are a good side. But we missed six or seven good chances that we should have made something of.”

Ludlow will take heart from last Saturday’s 3-2 league win at Pershore, coming from 2-0 down after playing the first ten minutes with seven men due to travel issues. Pratt, Stu Richards and Tom Blount scored.