Crista Cullen believes Great Britain’s plan of capturing London 2012 gold remains on course despite narrowly losing to hosts Argentina in the Champions Trophy.

Cullen could not prevent last year’s runners-up from going one better as Silvina D'Eilia’s first half penalty corner conversion proved enough to grant the world champions a hard-fought victory in Rosario.

But a well-deserved silver medal – Britain’s highest finish in a global tournament – represents a key step in the right direction towards their ultimate goal insists the Leicester defender.

“We are going for gold. That is what we are there for,” said Cullen.

“We are training every day with a gold medal winning mentality and that statement is not taken lightly. Everyone in the team are pushing themselves to limits that we did not realise were possible.

“When you close your eyes and you think ‘what do I really want to do, what do I want to be’, you want to stand at the top of the podium. And that is never going to change.

“Standing at that top-spot on the podium is what gets us up in the morning and gets us training and pushing our bodies to those levels.

“In years to come hopefully we will be able to look back on it and say we were there, and here is a medal to prove it.

“But now we are consistently winning medals, which has not happened as a Great Britain team in the build-ups to Games. So that is proving we are in the top three, top four consistently.

“We are chasing the gold medal and there are no qualms about that. I think the potential is definitely the top-spot, and we just need to try and push on from the Champions Trophy and make sure we have a great build-up to London.”

Britain have plenty of positives to return home with, having defeated Argentina 2-0 in a warm-up event two weeks ago and finishing the tournament with the best defensive record.

Great Britain have also become podium regulars in recent years, leaving Cullen, who was the tournament’s joint top goal-scorer with five strikes, feeling optimistic of realising their dream this summer.

“I think it is very exciting for us to be consistently winning medals for tournaments in the build up to the summer,” said the 26-year-old.

“We need to keep winning medals, and it is very important because we need consistent performances to get the public behind us.

“Tactically, we have got one of the best set-ups in the world. The amount of analysis and the work we do on our training is genuinely second-to-none.

“I think it is just making sure we are clinical. That is very much where our focus is.

“You are given one opportunity, and in that opportunity you need to convert. We are putting pressure on ourselves in training to try to replicate London as close as possible to make sure we are putting ourselves in those scenarios day in, day out.

“So hopefully by the time it comes, it is second nature to perform.”

Sportsbeat / Eurosport