Scotland pulled out all the stops to see off tournament favourites France, a side seven places above them in the world rankings, in the opening pool match at the European Nations Championships II in Glasgow, but coach Derek Forsyth is too experienced an international campaigner to believe that promotion is now just around the corner.
Forsyth said: "The team played very well against France and it is always pleasing to start the tournament with a win.
"However, we recognise that there are areas we can improve on heading into our next match against Portugal.
"Over the next day we will debrief our performance against the French and then begin our preparations for the Portugal game."
Today's fixture should be another three points and almost certain qualification for Friday`s promotion semi-finals – Portugal are 20 places below the Scots in the rankings and were crushed 7-2 by Ukraine in their opening encounter.
However, it is not so certain that the demolition was due to the vigorous powerplay of the Ukrainians or a rather limp performance by the Portuguese.
The Scots last played Portugal in the first round of the World League last year, that day it was a 9-0 thumping with Kenny Bain and Alan Forsyth both scoring twice. A similar outcome would be the ideal tonic for Forsyth`s charges.
The final pool match is against Ukraine tomorrow.
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