Gallo Images

Wade Paton of South Africa.

Stand-in captain Wade Paton says the under-strength SA men's hockey squad is motivated and ready for the two-Test series against Austria in Johannesburg this weekend.

The South Africans are without nine players who turned out against Great Britain earlier this month – including regular skipper Austin Smith, Lloyd Madsen, Justin Reid-Ross and SA Player of the Year Taine Paton – due to club commitments in Europe.

“Some of the guys have one or two caps here and there, so just to get two more international caps in a home Test series is going to be fantastic for the new guys,” Paton said.

Coach Gregg Clark has yet to pick his squad for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Japan in April, and Paton was confident they would stand up against Austria, ranked nine places below them, with younger players looking to shine.

“It's the same team representing the country, just with a mixed bunch of players who will probably get the job done just as well as the players that are missing,” he said.

Paton believed the matches against Austria on Saturday and Sunday, and a three-Test series against Olympic champions Germany in Bloemfontein next month, would offer solid preparation for the Olympic qualifiers.

“The fact that Austria are going to the same qualifying tournament as ourselves at the end of April will be fantastic training for us,” Paton said.

“I know that whoever eventually gets selected for the team for the qualifying tournament will be feeding off the information that we got from the games against Austria.”

Paton added that Austria posed an unfamiliar threat to the hosts, but he had seen them in action at last year's Indoor Hockey Word Cup, where the Austrians finished third.

“Not many (SA) players have ever played against Austria but we know they are a very good indoor hockey team,” he said.

“Their technical skills are incredibly good because of their indoor experience.”

With only one place available for the London Games at the six-nation qualifying tournament – the winning team will book their place – Paton said fringe players would benefit a great deal from the series against Austria.

“This weekend's games will give the younger players a good opportunity to experience the level of hockey that we'll be expecting at the qualifying tournament in Japan,” he said.

“The newer members of the squad are well prepared and now it's just a case of playing at a higher tempo and intensity.”

SA squad: Rassie Pieterse, Lance Louw, Ricky West, Owen Mvimbi, Thornton McDade, Andrew Cronje, Clive Terwin, Grant Robertson, Lloyd Norris-Jones, Craig Haley, Peter Bailey, Francois Pretorius, Tim Drummond, Wade Paton, Marvin Harper, Gowan Jones, Julian Hykes. – Sapa