Scotland hockey boss Russell Garcia insists he is ready to spread his recruitment net wider than ever in a bid to realise his Commonwealth Games dream.

Garcia has thrown down the gauntlet to the next generation of male hockey stars as they gear up for home internationasl against Italy next week.

The Azzurri will travel to the Forthbank Stadium in Stirling for a double header on Monday and Tuesday, and Garcia is adamant now is the time for his rookie squad to impress.

"We're really aiming to broaden our pool of players to select from," he said. "We're making it more competitive, giving younger players a chance alongside experienced players.

"We're emphasising our long term targets of Delhi 2010 and then the next Commonwealths in Glasgow 2014 to our squad.

"We need more depth and more guys competing for the 18 places on the squad. Italy will be a really good test for us because they are older and more experienced."