Great Britain name squad for World Championship matches

Josh Waller (right) is one of three Cardiff Devils included in the Great Britain squad

Great Britain have named a 23-man squad to play in the 2023 World Championship Division 1 Group A at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena.

Great Britain will compete against Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and South Korea.

They begin with a game against South Korea on Saturday.

"This has been one of the toughest selections ever for the coaching staff," said assistant coach Chuck Weber.

"We had to cut many quality players from the roster but that shows the position of strength we are in.

"This is going to be a very special tournament on home ice and the boys are focused on what they need to achieve."

The top two teams in Great Britain's group will be promoted to the elite division of the 2024 World Championships, which will be hosted in the Czech Republic.

Nine players have been released from the original 32-man training squad.

Forwards Kieran Brown (Leeds Knights) and Brandon Whistle (Sheffield Steelers) were ruled out through injury.

The other players who did not make the cut were Cardiff Devils trio Josh Batch, Ben Davies and Sam Duggan, Coventry Blaze's David Clements and Ross Venus, Belfast Giants' Sean Norris and Cam Critchlow of Manchester Storm.

Great Britain squad:

Netminders: Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils), Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants), Jordan Hedley (Coventry Blaze) - emergency reserve

Defencemen: Nathanael Halbert (HC TWK Innsbruck, Austria), Sam Jones (Sheffield Steelers), Evan Mosey (Sheffield Steelers), Ben O'Connor (Guildford Flames), David Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils), Sam Ruopp (Belfast Giants), Josh Tetlow (Rovaniemen Kiekko, Finland)

Forwards: Ollie Betteridge (Ferencvárosi TC, Hungary), Johnny Curran (Coventry Blaze), Robert Dowd (Sheffield Steelers), Mike Hammond (Nottingham Panthers), Liam Kirk (Arizona Coyotes, USA), Robert Lachowicz (Guildford Flames), Ben Lake (Belfast Giants), Matthew Myers (Nottingham Panthers), Cade Neilson (University of Alaska-Fairbanks), Brett Perlini (Herning Blue Fox, Denmark), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Josh Waller (Cardiff Devils)

Great Britain fixtures:

Saturday, 29 April South Korea v Great Britain (19.30 BST)

Sunday, 30 April Great Britain v Poland (16.00 BST)

Tuesday, 2 May Great Britain v Lithuania (19.30 BST)

Wednesday, 3 May Great Britain v Romania (19.30 BST)

Friday, 5 May Italy v Great Britain (19.30 BST)