FORMER Swindon Wildcats head coach Pete Russell says being appointed as the new head coach of Great Britain Men is a dream come true.

Russell, who is now coaching the Swindon-based Okanagan Hockey Academy, replaces Doug Christiansen.

The 40-year-old has had international success age group level. Last month he guided the GB Under 20s to gold, leading them back into Division 1B of the IIHF U20 World Championship. Russell’s young Lions featured a handful of Cats players, including Ollie Betteridge, Callum Buglass and Floyd Taylor.

Russell said the news was still sinking in with him, despite knowing about it for more than a week and has had fellow GB head coach – Swindon Robins speedway chief Alun Rossiter – on the phone to pass on his congratulations.

“It’s a great opportunity and it is a great honour as well,” he said.

“It came as a bit of a surprise, but it is nice to be recognised in that way. It is something I always wanted to do and I never thought it would come this quick.

“It is great for Swindon. For Okanagan to have the head coach as national team coach is immense and it is great for Swindon Wildcats because Okanagan is associated with that and they have been great.

“Steve Nell knew and he has been incredibly supportive about it and he has helped so much.

“I think Estonia was the pinnacle because it was a team that nobody expected to do so well and the guys were absolutely brilliant and I couldn’t have asked for anything else.”

Russell will be assisted by Tommy Watkins and Richard Hartmann and the trio’s first tournament in charge will be April's World Championship (Division 1B) in the Netherlands.

The 40-year-old will be out watching a lot of hockey to assess his options and knows he has a tough task to get the GB team out of a group which includes Korea and Croatia.

“I’ve got to assess where we are. We have got to evaluate all the players we have on offer and I have got to watch a lot of games,” he added.

“I know my philosophy and how I would set the team up and that is not going to change,”

he added.

“You have to see what the strengths are as a group and we have to make sure we pick the right players to take it forward.

“I think the GB programme is in a stage of transition. They were doing really well five years ago and I think it has just stabilised a little bit and we have to find a way of taking it forward.”

Fans of the Wildcats might hope that Russell’s new position may see more Swindon players, including Aaron Nell, making it into the national side but the new boss has said that he will only pick players based on merit.

“I have known Aaron since he was young, he played in my under 20 team and it is the same with any player,” he said.

“Everybody has the opportunity and if they are playing really well they have the chance. We’ll pick the people who are the best players at the time and the people that are right to fit into the system.

“It can never be that people can benefit just because they are in one area, my job is to look at the whole of Britain and outside into Europe and Canada.”