JONTY Clarke begins his Olympic odyssey today believing Great Britain can shock the hockey world.

The 27-year-old forward, who began his career at Old Southendians two decades ago, flies into the squad’s holding camp in Macau tonight before heading on to Beijing a week on Saturday.

And, although Britain are currently ranked eighth in the world, Clarke is aiming to spring a surprise.

“If we were to go on and make the semi-finals then it would be an incredible achievement for us but it's not beyond the realms of possibility,” Clarke told the Echo.

“But how we do in our first match against Pakistan (on August 11) will have a huge say in determining how we get on.

“They are just ahead of us in the rankings so we need to beat them but we aren’t setting ourselves too many targets and although it’s a horrible old cliché we need to take it one game at a time.”

The top two from two groups of six will advance to the semi-final stage, but Britain will have their work cut out to reach the final four as they also face Australia – the world’s number one team — and the third-ranked Netherlands.

South Africa and Canada complete the group but that does not concern former Southend High School pupil Clarke.

And he is determined to make the most of the experience.

“It’s been a long time coming but it's a dream come true for me to play in the Olympics,” he said.

“I made my international debut in 2003 so I’ve waited a while for this and when we qualified it was a big relief but a huge high too.

“It’s something that can only be beaten by running out onto the pitch at Beijing.”

Clarke, who also played for Chelmsford before joining his current club Reading, has won 85 England caps and 22 for Great Britain.

And Clarke will hope to add at least five more to that total when he and his team-mates take to the field in the Far East.

“We have one day on and then off before playing again," explained Clarke.

“If we get through to the semi finals or further then we could end up playing seven games in 13 days or something like that.

“I’m not sure the footballers would like that, in fact they probably wouldn’t play at all.

“But in fairness they have a long hard slog of a season to play and this is something we are prepared to deal with.”

Clarke also has the experience of his father, Dick – who still lives locally in Leigh – to guide him.

Dick is a former England Indoor captain, winning 82 caps between 1967-87 and remains the nation's highest capped indoor player ever.

Great Britain’s Olympic fixtures: Aug 11 Pakistan, 13 Netherlands, 15 South Africa, 17 Canada, 19 Australia.