ENGLAND Blind Football team captain Keryn Seal is hoping Hereford will once again come out in their droves when the city hosts the IBSA European Championships this summer.

The Royal National College for the Blind will once again host the tournament at thePoint 4 after staging a successful World Championships in 2010.

Around 9,000 people attended the matches and Seal is hoping for similar support in August.

"We had a fantastic tournament in 2010 and it was one of my most exciting times because it was personal," said Seal.

"People in Hereford came to support the team and knew who the players were.

"I'm looking forward to more of the same because the noise will be fantastic."

England have been drawn against Germany, Turkey, Italy and Poland in the group stages of the tournament and are currently on a 13 game unbeaten run.

Their next focus though is the IBSA World Games in Korea in May which will feature eight of the world's leading nations.

"That will be a marker to see how far we have come and what we need to do for the Euros," said Seal.

England's latest success saw them overcome Japan 2-0 in a friendly at the Point4 last Friday.

Seal said the squad is as strong as it has ever been.

"We've brought some older players back, like Darren Harris, and Mateen Noray has come in and got his second cap.

"That is testament to his hard work and commitment.

"We've also had a new goalkeeper come in, Dylan Malpas.

It's just a case of introducing the guys.

"They've probably got about 35 international caps, but haven't had that much experience in the last few years, so it's about giving them more bench time.

"Before we had our starting five with or or two coming off the bench, but now we've got a really strong squad of 10 to 12 players who are all pushing towards a starting place."

Last Friday's match was the third encounter between England and Japan in the space of a week.

England won the first match 1-0 thanks to a late penalty by Owen Bainbridge before earning a 0-0 in the following game.

Jon Pugh's team dominated the final encounter, but were only comfortable once they went ahead.

Roy Turnham saw his effort saved after five minutes before the same player shot wide after showing great dribbling skills on the edge of the box.

England finally made the breakthrough after 18 minutes after Bainbridge was upended in the penalty box.

Dan English calmly slotted the ball home to put the Three Lions ahead.

Ryo Kawanwara had a chance to level for Japan shortly before half-time, but his free-kick went wide.

Turnham extended England's lead after 34 minutes when he expertly fired home following a corner.

English almost made it 3-0 six minutes from time, but his effort hit a post, before Kawanwara saw his effort saved by Dan James in the England goal.

"It was a really important win because we had been battling with the Japanese all week," said Seal.

"We had been struggling to break down their four man defence but we proved that we can now do that on a consistent basis."