Tokyo Olympics: GB's Brendan Creed keen to make most of postponement

Creed has won 74 caps for England and Great Britain since making his debut in 2017

Great Britain defender Creed says he "lost a lot of motivation" after the Olympic Games were postponed but is now determined to make the most of the extra 12 months.

Creed, 27, suffered a serious knee injury last year and would have faced a tight turnaround to secure his selection in the Toyko 2020 squad.

"I guess it's kind of a blessing for me as it gives me a full year," he told BBC Sport. "I think I would have had six games before Tokyo selection, which was a pretty crazy time frame."

Creed ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Surbiton in October.

"I kind of lost my way a bit over the past few weeks," he said.

"But I'm now getting back into it and the postponement gives me a full season to attack everything."

The Olympics have been delayed until July 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, although there is the possibility they might "be scrapped" if there are still significant health and safety concerns.

"You have to be realistic that it could happen," said Creed, who has never competed at the Olympics. "But at the same time it's still on, so you have to treat it as it's still on."

Several Great Britain players had agreed contracts to play abroad after the 2020 Games - scheduled from 24 July to 9 August - with Creed signing for one of Belgium's top sides, Beerschot.

However, with international teams looking to rearrange their seasons to build towards the rescheduled Games, his contract has now been cancelled.

Pro League matches in May and June have been postponed and the tournament extended into next year.

Revising the calendar will be more problematic for Great Britain Hockey, which normally splits into England, Wales and Scotland after an Olympic Games to play in the European Hockey Championships, Commonwealth Games and World Cup.

Nick Pink, chief operating officer of GB and England Hockey, said: "I suspect we'll want to be GB as much as we possibly can next year because that's going to give us the best preparation for the Olympic Games.

"But I don't want to jump too hard into that because I'm respecting where the different bodies and organisations are within that scheduling period."