CAPTAIN Robert Dowd believes Great Britain’s players are building nicely at the World Championships in Prague as they enter the crucial second half of the group phase.

Pete Russell’s team have had a tough opening to their Group A campaign on their return to the top tier, facing off on the opening weekend against the top two seeds, Canada and Finland.

Wins were not expected from either game, but the GB team drew widespread praise for their performances, particularly against Canada who beat them 4-2.

An 8-0 defeat to Finland followed but, again, GB showed plenty of encouraging signs that they could skate with their more illustrious opponents.

PEAKING: Great Britain captain Robert Dowd, in action agaisnt Finland. Picture: Dean Woolley.

Wednesday brought a 3-0 defeat to world No 7 Switzerland, GB recovering from a difficult first period to match their opponents for the remaining 40 minutes.

With four games remaining, the chances are that GB might require two wins to ensure they avoid an instant demotion and while hosts Czechia lie in wait on Saturday night, the other three contests are where Russell’s players hope to make up ground on their group rivals.

Denmark - with one win to their name so far - provide today’s test, with GB finishing off the group campaign against Norway and Austria.

And Dowd believes the tough examinations of their top-tier credentials incurred so far, have helped get them up to speed and into a good position for the remainder of their schedule.

TOUGH START: Great Britain's Ben O'Connor battles on the boards in the 3-0 loss to Switzerland on Wednesday night. Picture: Dean Woolley.

“Those games against the top teams were all about trying to get up to speed and now, hopefully, we’re at the right speed to try and take a run at this,” said the Sheffield Steelers’ captain.

“We need to try and pick up points from somewhere and while the Czech game is going to be a very tough one to get anything out of, those other three games are games where we’ve got to try and get some points from.

“The aim is to get better as the tournament goes on and we feel that we’ve done that.”

Having had two days rest since their heavy defeat to Finland, it didn’t take long before GB realised they were in for another tough night against an impressive Switzerland team containing several NHL stars, including New Jersey Devils’ Nico Hischier and Nashville Predators’ Roman Josi.

Jackson Whistle made a superb save to stop Kevin Fiala's early penalty shot, but the Swiss went ahead when Hischier buried a rebound from close range at 3.48.

GB went close through Liam Kirk and Ben Lake but went further behind when Whistle lost sight of Dean Kukan's shot from the top of the right-circle in the 14th minute.

After being outshot 14-2 in the first period, GB came into the game more, although they fell 3-0 behind when Nino Niederreiter blast from the right-circle beat Whistle at 38.36.

Brett Perlini, Cade Neilson and Kirk all went close in the third period, but they couldn’t find a way through, much to the frustration of the former Sheffield Steelers’ forward, who voiced his concern about GB’s lack of goals.

"These teams are all really good," admitted Kirk. "We need to find ways to get to the paint and be more direct, but it's hard.

"We did better today but we still only have two goals in this tournament.”

Great Britain v Denmark: Robert Dowd keen for GB to prove their World Championship credentials