The recent Investec London Cup proved a useful warm-up event for both the men's and women's Scottish hockey teams but also served as an exercise in deception.

If it perhaps seemed a touch counter-productive to be taking on opposition so soon before facing them again in the Commonwealth Games then any chance of Wales or England - in the women's case - gaining valuable insight on Team Scotland's tactics, strengths or weakenesses ahead of Glasgow was kept to a mininum. To borrow from the lexicon of poker, coach Gordon Shepherd and his players have yet to show their full hand.

Scotland beat Wales 5-0 and lost narrowly 2-1 to England in London, two results that should be heartening ahead of the Games. Only the top two sides from the five-team group pool will qualify for the semi-finals and with Australia, gold medallists at the last two Commonwealth Games, likely to top the section, it would seem to be a straight fight between England (sixth in the world rankings), Scotland (11th), Malaysia (21st) and Wales (32nd) for the second berth out of Group B. The closeness of the scoreline in the game against England would suggest the Scots can be a match for their neighbours across the border.

Inside the camp, however, they are taking greater succour from the strength of their displays rather than the significance of the results achieved in London, believing also they have more in reserve for when the Games come around.

"Our focus was really on performance," said forward Nikki Kidd. "We knew we were playing against top-quality teams that we will potentially meet again, and we wanted to make sure our performance was improving and we were putting into practice some things we've been doing in training. Obviously you're going to keep a little bit back in terms of tactical things and some set moves. But we went out there to practise the fundamentals that we've been working on, and things are coming together with really good timing. It was a really valuable competition, especially so close to the Games. Now we're really looking forward to getting into the tournament. We're targeting the top four and we really believe that we can do that. We're all 100% behind it - the performances so far show we can achieve it. Now it's just a matter of getting down to it and doing it on the field."

Lloyd's youthful appearance is another thing that could be considered deceptive. Far from being a callow youth, the 26-year-old PhD student is set to compete in her third Games having been part of the squad for both Melbourne and Delhi. She is one of a number of players in the group who have amassed more than 100 caps and hopes that experience will serve Scotland well.

"We've come together as a squad over the last few years," she added. "Last year we had a great year at the European [Championships] and we've really been building year on year. We're a really tight team and support each other and push each other on.

"I've got 142 caps. There are a few girls with a lot. Linda [Clement, the Scotland captain] has got an unbelievable wealth of experience over four Commonwealth Games and she's been captain for over 150 caps now. She does a brilliant job - an absolutely superb job. She plays really well and leads by example."

The prospect of playing a major tournament on their own custom-built facility at Glasgow Green is something else Kidd is looking forward to. "I played in Melbourne in 2006 - that was my first senior tournament and an amazing experience," she recalled. "In Australia there were pretty big crowds, so that was quite exciting. In Delhi it was a huge stadium, and when we played India there was a fairly decent crowd.

"But we're really looking forward to playing on that pitch, in front of our home fans. Scottish fans are famed the world over for being really passionate and wanting their team to do the best possible."