Athens: India will seek to plug the defensive loopholes when they clash with South Africa in their second Group B league match in the Olympic hockey event in Athens tomorrow (Aug 17, 2004) with the pressure to deliver bearing heavily on the mind of the players.

The Indians showed glimpses of their old rhythm in the lung opener against defending champions the Netherlands but a few defensive lapses cost them the match 1-3.

The players, however, will have to pick themselves up for the game against South Africa who have already caused a major upset by beating Argentina 2-1 in their first hurdle.

The new coach, Germany-born Gerhard Rach, said after the match that the Indians did commit some defensive lapses that led to their downfall. But he promised an improved show by his wards that desperately need to win the match against the South Africans to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

"We made some silly mistakes. We also had some problems in passing which upset the rhythm. The boys are young and they will learn from their mistakes. Hopefully we will not repeat those mistakes in the remaining matches," Rach said.

"It was not such a bad game, we did manage to create the openings. But our forwards did not have enough patience to convert the opportunities. There are some things that we need to sort out," he said.

While the forwards failed to provide the finishing touches, the defenders were also guilty of periodic lapse of concentration that made the task difficult for the team.