ISLAMABAD, March 4: Pakistan went looking for a Commonwealth Games hockey gold at Manchester four years ago and all they could get was a bronze; now as they head for Melbourne, captain Mohammad Saqlain’s side will be under added pressure to do well.

Saqlain was not the captain then but as a playing member remembers that 7-1 semifinal thrashing by underdogs New Zealand that brought the team’s run to a grinding halt.

“It was a nightmare that left us all shattered, we had never thought we could lose the way we did,” Saqlain told Dawn on Saturday just as Pakistan wound up their last training session.

The focus at the brief training camp ahead of the March 15-26 Games has been on penalty corner conversions, defence and trying out new variations in play.

“We want less pressure on the mid-field and hence we have been working on how best we could achieve that in whatever little time we had,” said Saqlain under whom Pakistan defeated India 3-1 in a six-Test home and away series last month.

Pakistan have been analysing video footage of that series in a bid to rectify the flaws which surfaced especially in defence and their dismal strike rate off short corners.

Goals from set pieces were scarce for Pakistan as they were for India and the captain pointed out there was still a lot for defenders Imran Warsi and Mohammad Imran to learn.

“I think by the time the World Cup comes around they will be much more mature.”

The temperamental Saqlain whose biggest prize as player and captain came when Pakistan beat a strong Australia to land the Rabobank title last year, has his eyes set on winning the World Cup in Germany.

“I don’t think there’s any harm in setting goals and mine as captain is to help my country lift that title,” he says of the crown that Pakistan last wore in 1994.

But the 28-year-old midfielder made it clear that he in no way meant the Commonwealth Games were not important.

“We are going to Melbourne with a positive frame of mind and will try and do our best but our real target remains the World Cup.”

“For now we are fully focussed on the task at hand and will be striving to improve on our bronze finish of 2002.”

Pakistan face off India in their first match in Melbourne in a group that also has South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and Malaysia.

Australia, the Commonwealth Games champions are on the other side.

Coach Asif Bajwa refrained from making any tall claims and rightly so after seeing his side finish a poor fifth in the elite six-team Champions Trophy at Chennai in December.

Asif, who was an assistant to Tahir Zaman in 2002, however expects his side to play the final.

“We have had loads of work to do in the camp and we have tried to iron out all the problems.”

Some problems still remain though with two of the team’s star forwards Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi still recovering from hamstring injuries.

“They trained today under a separate training programme given to them and also took part in the drills along with the other players,” assistant coach Rana Mujhaid said.

The injuries to these key players had forced them to miss last week’s sixth and final Test against India in Rawalpindi that had ended in a 3-3 draw.

“They are now beginning to recover and hopefully by the time we get to Melbourne they will be back in shape.”

The Pakistan team is due travel along with the rest of the contingent to Lahore by road on Sunday before flying out later in the day.

The green shirts play their opening match against India on March 18 and take on South Africa, a side they hammered 10-2 in 2002, the following day.

The team’s other matches are versus Trinidad and Tobago on March 21 and against Malaysia on the 22nd.