Barry Middleton: 'Penalty defeat to Germany tough to take'

England men's captain Barry Middleton has revealed that his team are "proud" of their efforts during EuroHockey 2015 after bowing out at the semi-final stage.

A missed spot kick from Sam Ward resulted in England losing a penalty shootout to Germany after the match had ended 2-2, but despite acknowledging his side's display, Middleton has admitted that missing out on the final in London is "tough" to take.

The 31-year-old is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "We're proud of the way we played and the game we put out there. But in the end we lost, and that's tough to get away from right now."

England will face Ireland in the bronze-medal match on Saturday.