Player-coach Kwan Browne is looking forward to battling it out with Kent rivals Holcombe and Sevenoaks for a place in the Wembley finals of the Maxinutrition Hockey 5s Championships.

After the first round of four fixtures in Birmingham, the city club are fourth in the nine-strong national indoor Premier Division table, with one of the four places in the finals in February within their grasp.

They sit three points behind second-placed Reading, and a point ahead of fifth-placed Sevenoaks who are one ahead of sixth-placed Holcs, both of whom they face in Birmingham this weekend (January 4 and 5), along with Bowdon Hightown and Beeston.

First-up at 12.30pm are ambitious Holcombe, a side who have managed to attract Great Britain stars Dan Fox and captain Barry Middleton plus Scottish stars Allan Dick and Daniel Coulton.

Browne said: “I don’t want to say too much about it but a lot of good players have gone there to play at a level below the top-flight, for whatever reason that might have been.

“The way we do things at Canterbury is a little different. We build a club. The players come through the youth teams and into the first team. The future is bright.”

Browne added: “We are in a good position. The individual results are not as important as getting through to the finals day. We are confident we can achieve that.

“We came away from the first weekend having played well and feeling great. We know we can win the competition. We have a lot of quality and are looking forward to the second weekend.”

Canterbury Ladies are also in with a chance of qualifying for Wembley as they lie fourth on goal difference in the Premier Division at the midway point, with seven points from their first four games.

They head to Burton to face Reading and Bowdon on Saturday with Leicester and East Grinstead the opposition the following day.