KAREN Atkinson believes the forthcoming series against Commonwealth champions New Zealand gives England the perfect chance to gaze into the crystal ball – and the Marlow-based netball player is convinced the future’s looking bright.

The 32-year-old who co-captained England to Commonwealth Games bronze in Delhi last October, will again team up with Sonia Mkoloma to lead the troops into battle against four-time world champions New Zealand.

A healthy portion of revenge will be on the menu for England having led the Silver Ferns for the majority of their Commonwealth Games group stage clash, only to slip to a narrow defeat in the closing stages.

A slither of pride was restored at November’s World Series as England racked up an early win over a much-changed Kiwis side, only for the two teams to lock horns again in the final where New Zealand narrowly prevailed.

And so with this month’s three-match series, which gets underway on January 15 at the MEN Arena in Manchester, being England’s last major test before July’s World Championships, Atkinson admits it’s sink or swim.

“We’ve had some really close matches against New Zealand recently but the camp is very positive at the moment,” said Atkinson, who plies her trade with the Hertfordshire Mavericks. “But I think consistency is our problem and it’s going to be key for this series. We need to keep playing at the same level of concentration and intensity for all four quarters.

“We did manage to beat New Zealand at the World Series but we can’t read too much into it because they had a completely different side.

“But this is our major series before the World Championships so it’s vital that we prove we can live with the top sides and show that we are contenders to be world champions.”

While England found their way onto the podium in Delhi, they have not been among the medals at the World Championships since 1999 when Atkinson and co collected bronze in Christchurch.

Atkinson believes that a lack of opportunities to test themselves against the elite – namely New Zealand and Australia – is the key reason why England find themselves playing second fiddle to their Antipodean rivals.

But the Marlow ace reckons all that is about to change.

“It’s one of the best set-ups I’ve been involved in since I started senior international netball [in 1997],” added Atkinson, who will lead England into battle in the second and third matches on January 17th and 19th in Nottingham and London respectively.

“The support staff are fantastic and the preparations are meticulous.

“I think in the past we’ve found that because we don’t play against the likes of New Zealand all that often that we’re not used to the highest levels of intense competition.

“But without giving too much away about this series we look to win every game that we play. We’ve had some really good chances to beat them recently and that gives us plenty of confidence.”

For tickets to watch England vs New Zealand in the FIAT International Netball Series on January 15, 17 and 19 at the M.E.N Arena Manchester, Capital FM Arena Nottingham and the O2 Arena London please visit http://www.englandnetball.co.uk/