West Brom powerchair stars hoping to bring home World Cup
Albion powerchair trio Dave Lewis, Chris Gordon and Marcus Harrison will be jetting off to Australia to represent England at the FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup.
England's eight-man squad travelled out to Sydney on October 8 and will have seven days of preparation before the tournament begins on October 15.
The Three Lions will take on Argentina, Ireland, Denmark, France, Australia, USA, Uruguay, Japan and Northern Ireland in the group stage, which will be a round-robin format, with the top four teams progressing to the semi-finals.
Lewis insists England are among the favourites ahead of the competition, and is confident that the squad's preparation leaves them in good stead to grasp the opportunity Down Under.
"Preparation has been really good. We've had loads of camps over the past 12 months and our chairs went in advance on September 10," Lewis revealed.
"So we haven't actually trained since then but we knew that in advance because it was going to take time to get the chairs out to Australia.
"We really want to do well and we are going out there to win. We are deemed one of the favourites to win it and that carries more pressure with it.
"Our training sessions have been at St George's Park and we're fortunate to access facilities like that. There is an element of nervousness but then it wouldn't be natural if you weren't nervous going into a World Cup.
"It's positive nerves and we just really want to bring that trophy home."
Lewis has been playing with Gordon and Harrison for many years, and is honoured to have the opportunity to also represent Albion on the international stage.
Albion were crowned FA Disability Cup champions after defeating Aspire PFC on penalties at St George's Park in July.
It was the sport's first-ever televised event, and Lewis is excited by how much the sport has grown in recent years.
"The sport is growing year on year, and with the introduction of the Disability FA Cup final on BT Sport, that has given the sport a new profile, and helped raise it.
"Myself, Chris Gordon and Marcus Harrison have all played for many years probably 14-15 years in the sport.
"We are three very experienced players but we are also representing West Brom as a club, and we are honoured to do that. The World Cup is on the other side of the world and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, and an opportunity that we don't want to waste."
