Georgie Twigg says this year will be huge for the England Women’s Hockey Team after the squad ended 2014 with a difficult expedition to Argentina for the Champions Trophy.

Twigg and co picked up silver during this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow – losing out on gold to Australia after a penalty shootout.

The team finished the year with a fifth-place finish in Mendoza after a difficult group yielded a draw with Germany and defeats against Australia and hosts Argentina.

However, Twigg says she knew the competition was going to be a learning curve for the squad and insists the hard work is already underway ahead of a busy 2015 that includes Olympic qualification and the European Championships.

“We're back into a big training block at Bisham Abbey now and getting ready for a massive 2015,” said Twigg.

“We always knew it (the Champions Trophy)was going to be a developmental tournament and it would be a learning curve for the team.

“We took a number of new players, some who were winning their first cap, and Kate Richardson-Walsh has taken a bit of a break so she wasn't there, so it was very much a new, young team.

“We were playing a new format of hockey with quarters instead of just halves, so there were a lot of changes for us to get to grips with.

“I think we definitely put in some good performances at times – some matches weren't the best, but in a way you learn more from the matches when you don't play so well and it was good to finish on a high by winning the last two games and coming fifth.”

© Sportsbeat 2015