Hollie Pearne-Webb has urged Team GB to put their hockey semi-final heartache behind them and quickly switch focus to Friday’s bronze medal match.
Team GB will not defend the gold they so memorably won in Rio after a 5-1 defeat to Netherlands in the last four in Tokyo.
They can still leave with a medal and face India, the losers of the second semi-final, for bronze in the early hours on Friday.
And Pearne-Webb is keen to forget the heavy defeat as quickly as possible and lift the team ahead of their medal bid.
“We have had to show some resilience during this Olympic cycle and now we have to get over this quickly and move on,” she said.
Our women's hockey team will play for bronze after losing out to the Netherlands.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/RTLcJY74ms
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 4, 2021
“We’re a new group of players and we have a medal to play for. We have to get in the right frame of mind for the game on Friday and try and bring a medal home.
“It won't be easy but we are used to being resilient and it's our job to focus on that match and try and win a medal.”
Team GB arrived with a score to settle following their 1-0 pool stage defeat to Netherlands, who they also beat in the final to win gold five years ago.
But as the first quarter progressed in sweltering 34 degrees sunshine, the defending champions started to struggle, with Maddie Hinch called upon to produce a fine save from a penalty corner to keep them level.
Netherlands, who have medalled at every Games since 1992, did not have long to wait for the breakthrough as they as they took the lead in the 19th minute.
A brisk counter-attack saw the Dutch moved the ball from right to left, where Felice Albers was on hand to coolly slot the ball past Hinch.
Team GB needed to regain a footing in the match but the Dutch were irresistible and added a quick second when Maria Keetles was unmarked in the circle and smashed a low effort into the bottom corner.
Trailing 2-0 at the break, Pearne-Webb tried to rally her side but the Dutch delivered a further blow shortly after half-time when Maria Verschoor flicked a penalty corner past Hinch.
Albers notched her second of the game minutes later by touching in a bouncing ball from the left, before Team GB hit back when Giselle Ansley buried a penalty corner.
But the 2012 gold medallists added a fifth late through Frederique Matla to seal it.
“It was not the morning we planned, yeah we are disappointed,” Pearne-Webb added.
“Especially after how we played in the pool stages against them. We showed we can match them across large parts of the game but we didn’t show up.
“They probably looked at the pool game and how they can tweak things against us. We are disappointed but at the same time we need to get over it quickly because we want to come away with a bronze.
“We need to wait and see who we’re playing, look at today and work out what went wrong and why our basics were a little bit off. And put them right the day after tomorrow.”