SHONA McCallin has backed Slough Hockey Club to win promotion this season as the Women’s Hockey League play-offs get under way on Sunday.

The Upton Court Park outfit have already won the Women’s Conference West title, suffering just one defeat in 18 league matches.

Slough clash with Wakefield at Cannock this Sunday before two further play-off matches at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in April.

And McCallin, who is an ambassador for STX Field Hockey, believes that winning promotion this season would be the icing on the cake.

McCallin said: “This is my first year at Slough but I knew that it was a strong team after a good performance last season.

“We’ve won the league quite convincingly in my eyes, which was a great feeling, and hope to put in a good performance at the play-offs.

“Unfortunately I was injured at the beginning of the season, but we’ve got some really good quality club players.

“We’ve got a real good mix of skill sets, some good engines and really calm players on the ball. I think the team has a lot of potential.

“I went to Exeter and watched us absolutely demolish ISCA University 7-1, which is one of the biggest scorelines in the league this year.

“ISCA were real challengers to Slough last year so that was really great to see. We put in such a great performance.

“It had real team spirit, hunger and desire, and even though I wasn’t playing, I really enjoyed being there with the girls.” McCallin, 22, added: “I’m looking forward to the play-off tournament. Theoretically we’ve got a one-in-two chance so we will just have to wait and see what happens.

“They always say in hockey that promotion from the Conference to the Premier is one of the hardest things to do.

“Hopefully we will get the win on Sunday and that will give us a good stepping stone, and give us a good chance of getting promotion.” McCallin is also no stranger to success at international level and aims to book at place in the Team GB squad for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

She continued: “I’ve been lucky enough to playing international hockey since I was about 15-years-old.

“I started with the under-16s, worked my way up and have now made the step up to the senior squad.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time playing junior international hockey, and was lucky enough to captain England and GB under-21s.

“Not many people can say that they have done that and looking back it was a really proud moment for me.

“It was a real pleasure to do it with such a great group of girls which we had that year.” McCallin added: “The aim for me personally is Rio 2016. I’ve been training hard for the last year or so.

“It’s all about taking the journey step by step and putting in as much as you can do each day.

“Hopefully the end result will be a place on that plane to Rio, and hopefully a gold medal.” **PICK up a copy of The Observer, out now, for all the latest sports news and action including our complete hockey round-up** **FOLLOW The Observer on Twitter at @Observer_sports**