England korfball skipper Ben King insists they will learn the lessons from defeat ahead of the European Championships.

King, who plays at Tooting-based Bec, and his international team-mates were playing in a four-team tournament at the Whitgift School last weekend, featuring England, Catalonia, Scotland and Wales.

England, also featuring King’s clubmates Caitlin Fitzgerald, Jo-Anne Wilson, Joe Bedford, Andrew Hall, Blake Palfreyman and Davesh Patel, got off to a good start on Saturday morning with a comfortable 20-8 victory over Scotland.

However, Catalonia proved to be too strong for England in the afternoon, running out winners by 22-13.

On Sunday, England comfortably beat Wales 26-6, but then lost in a rematch against Catalonia – who finished the weekend unbeaten to claim overall victory – by 17-11.

The weekend’s action, which also included appearances from Sytze Bijker of Epsom-based Nomads and Steph Allen of Croydon-based Trojans, was a prelude to the European Championships in Portugal in October and November.

King said: “It was great preparation for us. We played extremely well at points and are coming together nicely as a squad.

“It’s always frustrating to lose matches but I have no doubt we will learn from this weekend and be very competitive by the time we get to Porto."