England women suffered a 3-0 defeat against China during their latest World Cup encounter.

It makes it two defeats from two for the women, who missed a hatful of chances against the Chinese.

Three second half goals won it for China with Yang Peng putting them ahead seven minutes after the restart. Melyu Llang doubled the lead and Peng added her second on 66 minutes.

It was another blow for wasteful England, whose side contains a number of Kent-based players. They had 10 shots at goal, compared to China’s four but came off second best.

They lost their opening game against USA on Sunday.

England coach Jason Lee knows his team are now on the verge of elimination, with three group games left to play.

He said: “There is nothing more scary than standing on the edge of a precipice and we are unmistakably on the edge of a precipice. In hockey terms, it doesn’t get much worse than this.”

The England squad contains Holcombe players Maddie Hinch and Laura Unsworth, along with Canterbury’s Susannah Townsend.

England's men play Malaysia on Thursday (12pm) and the women are back in action on Friday against South Africa on Friday.

Among the players in the South African squad are Kent-based Shelley Russell (Holcombe) and Dirkie Chamberlain (Canterbury).