Israel handball coach Shlomo Hoffman is in confident mood ahead of his side’s clash with Great Britain at Crystal Palace on tonight.

The team begin their quest for a place at the 2013 World Championship Finals by facing a British team preparing for the upcoming Olympic Games.

Britain have failed to win any of their five previous games against the Israelis but have improved in recent years and secured their first competitive victory last June.

But Israel, who qualified for the second stage of Euro 2010, are full of optimism ahead of the first leg with the second game scheduled for Sunday in Rishon Lezion.

"The players have a lot of motivation and are in good shape," said coach Shlomo Hoffman, who played in the first meeting between the countries in 1978.

"The spirit in the camp is very good. We don’t know a lot about their players but we know some of them play in the top leagues in Germany and Denmark.

"We take the matches very seriously. We know they’re building for the Olympics but we’re coming here with a strong side.

"We want to win the game and we have two games against Austria in January which will be crucial to our qualification.

"Only the team who comes top of the group will progress so we need to win.”