Great Britain U20 begin their World Championship (Division 1B) tournament against Slovenia on Sunday as they look to improve on last year’s third-placed finish.

In addition to Slovenia, GB will face hosts Hungary, Poland, Italy and Ukraine in the six-team group.

Martin Grubb has taken on the head coach role after Tom Watkins pulled out with club commitments

“It was good to skate for almost an hour after the travel day,” said Grubb.

“From my position of course I’d rather Tom Watkins was here as this is his team and him and his staff have worked all year to get to this point.

“However, I’m happy to step up and know that with the support of Slava Koulikov and Paul Heavey plus the players and other staff we can have a successful week.”

Grubb named his leadership group for the tournament after their training session.

Luc Johnson is the team captain, Sam Duggan and Josh Grieveson are his assistants. Glenn Billing completes the leadership group as vice-captain.

“This group was successful for me two years ago with the U18 in Estonia where we won a bronze medal,” added Grubb.

“They are two years older and wiser and have been in the programme for several tournaments now.

“They have a great deal of experience and each bring different skills and attributes. That said, I’ve told the players we should have twenty-two leaders in the room showing pride in their performances and pride to be wearing the jersey.”

Games from the tournament are also being shown online – please click here to view the stream which will appear on the homepage just before the game starts.