Great Britain coach Jon Royce has hit out at the format of the women's Olympic competition after his side were outplayed by Argentina in a 1-0 defeat at the State Sports Centre in Sydney.

Admitting his team must win their next two games to make sure of going through to the second 'Super Six' stage, which has been initiated at these Games, Royce said: "The new format is nonsensical.

"It has to have been set up by lunatics. Teams now have two more matches in two fewer days over the course of the competition."

Denying that the team's lacklustre display was a result of their hard match against Australia 24 hours earlier, Royce added: "I don't want to complain too loudly because it's the same for every country.

"We didn't start well against Argentina and paid the price by conceding the goal. They seized the initiative and we just didn't show enough craft around the circle to create chances or win penalty corners."

Argentina's coach Jorge Vigil added: "We had a game plan to control the match and I have a great deal of respect for Great Britain, but I was surprised at how we dominated. I thought they'd put us under more pressure - so of course I'm happy."