KEY POINTS:
The power of the needle is being called upon to give the New Zealand men's hockey team a fighting chance of an Olympic medal.
Coach Shane McLeod said yesterday that injured star striker Simon Child had been given a series of injections which would hopefully allow him to start in tonight's opening match against Korea.
Child has been battling a finger injury which has disrupted his and the team's build-up to the Games.
"He's had a couple of injections over the last couple of days to make sure he can get sensation between having a numb finger and a good feeling for finesse in his hockey," McLeod said.
It was expected Child would be able to play in the first two games, but would be "finding his way a little bit" because of his lack of matchplay leading up to the tournament. After that, he should be fully fit.
Having Child with his goal-scoring ability out of the build-up had not made things easy. His recovery was crucial if New Zealand were to make it into medal contention, said McLeod.
"If Simon reaches his potential very quickly you are going to see a very good New Zealand side competing very hard for medal contention."
Vice-captain Phil Burrows agreed. "Obviously Simon is a top asset to us scoring goals."
The first-up match against Korea will be tight. While New Zealand has won two of the past three clashes between the nations, Korea had a fine performance at this year's Champions Trophy, beating the Netherlands to finish sixth.
McLeod nominated the Korean, Spanish and German games as key matches for the team to target. The clashes against Belgium and China were "non-negotiable", must-win games.
New Zealand enter the tournament boasting a side stacked with experience, something Burrows believes will count when the pressure comes on.
"It's really important, especially when you come to games at 2-2 with 10 minutes to go - you don't want stupid mistakes like hitting the ball up the middle."
