Great Britain Women’s head coach Cheryl Smith says next week’s trip to Slovakia will be of massive benefit ahead of November’s Olympic qualification tournament.
GB begin their bid to reach the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang with a tournament in Kazakhstan from Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th November 2016.
As well as facing the hosts, GB will take on Poland and either Turkey, Mexico or Hong Kong, who play in the first round of qualifying in October.
Cheryl Smith said: “It is fantastic to have two games against a quality nation to help our preparations.
“Playing a side ranked seven places above us will really test us and see where we are as a nation.
“Everyone is looking forward to the Olympic qualification campaign and hopefully we will go as far as we can.
“We need to take it one step at a time and it begins with a tough trip to Kazakhstan.
“But this trip to Slovakia will really help us fine-tune a number of things and get the girls into match situations.”
GB will go head-to-head with Slovakia on Friday 15th July and Saturday 16th July 2016.