Canterbury Hockey Club's ladies player-coach Jen Wilson says the mid-season break could have come at a bad time for the Investec National Premier Division leaders.

The city club are in a rich vein of form, with Saturday’s 2-1 success at the University of Birmingham maintaining their three-point lead over champions Reading, who were beaten at Polo Farm the previous weekend.

However, they do not have another league game until February 8 and Wilson says they will have to rebuild their momentum once more.

She said: “We are obviously delighted to be where we are. It was very important that having got ourselves in front at the top that we made sure we stayed there over the two-month winter break.

“The break does allow us to rest a few weary bodies for a while, not least my own, but it has pros and cons, really. With the run we’re on at the moment we have a lot of momentum behind us and we’ll have to work to try and get that back when we come on February.

“There’s no doubt that the seven games we have left are going to be extremely tough – with us being top it gives the sides we are up against, no matter where they are in the table, that little bit of additional motivation.

“We are going to be in for a tough battle, but we’ll use the indoor season to keep our fitness up until February, and then we’ll continue to focus on one week at a time and see where it gets us.”