NANTWICH’S Henry Weir will be keeping university celebrations to a minimum as he prepares for a World Cup with England.

The former Sandbach Sixth Form College student has his final exam at Loughborough University the same day the England Hockey side fly out to The Hague.

The 24-year-old will instead sit his sports science exam at Bisham Abbey before flying out.

But Weir is happy to settle for a celebratory chocolate bar as England go in hunt of their first World Cup medal since silver in 1986.

“It’s going to be a bit of a mad rush and revision has been a bit of a nightmare,” he said. “For us the times to celebrate are few and far between, so you have to make sure you do when you get the chance.

“I think the feeling of finishing my degree and bringing home a World Cup gold medal will be the time to celebrate.

“Once I get on that plane it will be focused on hockey mode; I wish I could have a cheeky beer on the plane but I think I would regret it the next day when we’ve got a warm-up game.

“Maybe I’ll have a cheeky chocolate bar or a bag of crisps, which will be a nice middle ground.

“We want to come back with a medal and I think gold is realistic because we’ve got a team with a hell of a lot of potential.”

England have been drawn in Pool A alongside Spain, Belgium, India, Malaysia and the world’s top-ranked side Australia.

But Weir almost didn’t make the World Cup squad after rupturing a ligament in his ankle but after trying every possible remedy he made a late comeback and secured his place – much to his relief.

“I was out for eight weeks and I was diagnosed with a ten to 12-week break. If it had been that long then I wouldn’t have made the World Cup selection,” he added.

“I’ve been doing all sorts to try and get my ankle back and mended. I’ve been in the hyperbaric chamber which is like a small submarine that I was in for 90 minutes a day.

“I’ve been eating a lot of jelly which is apparently really good for ligaments and that was maybe the best part about being injured.

“It’s an odd one because you don’t have time to think about how surreal it all is because once you get involved in senior international sport the weeks fly by."

NOW: Pensions are one of the UK’s leading auto enrolment pension providers and the proud partner of England and Great Britain Men’s Hockey. Follow @NOWhockey or go www.nowpensions.com