Wimbledon hockey club’s Alastair Brogdon bagged his third goal in the World Hockey League as England marched into the semi-finals.

A 2-1 win over Pakistan on Wednesday sets up a clash with Australia in Antwerp tomorrow (Friday) for a place in the final on Saturday against either India or hosts Belgium.

England have already qualified for the World League finals to be played in India at the end of the year – and they will also grace the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Brogdon, and clubmates Michael Hoare, Henry Weir and James Bailey, were 2-0 up against Pakistan before a late reply set up a nervy finish.

Head coach Bobby Crutchley said: “It was job done really. I’m pleased we got through. There were a lot of key performances in the team and we showed we can work hard when the games get tight.

“We started well and dominated early but the conditions meant we couldn’t keep up the intensity and didn’t take the game away from them which made it tight.

“Having said that they didn’t create a lot of chances and I felt we were the better side.”

He added: “Without doubt the conditions played a part, but even in the second half we created the better chances. A good start was important but we did well even though they came back strongly.

“We’ll prepare well for Australia. It’ll be a tough game but we’re looking forward to it.

“We played them a couple of times recently and had a win and a loss. We showed we’re capable of beating them and we’ll be hoping to do it again.”