An away weekend

Whitley Warriors find themselves on the road twice again this weekend and will be looking to boost their English National League title bid by collecting all available points.

They begin with a match against bottom-of-the-table Kingston Jets on Saturday and follow that up with a visit to Telford Titans 24 hours later; and that Sunday encounter is being played for double points as the Shropshire outfit have no spare dates to replay the game that was cancelled because of bad weather just before Christmas.

“We need to concentrate on the Kingston game first,” said Whitley coach Simon Leach, “and just because they are sitting at the bottom, doesn’t mean we can take the game lightly.

“They’ve actually played a little better recently and it would be so easy to come unstuck if we go into the game with the wrong attitude, so we will treat them the same as we would any other side; because it is a must win game if we are to harbour hopes of winning the league.”

Telford will provide a different challenge, especially on their own ice, where Leach feels they are a much more physical side.

“We’ve had much the better of the two games at Hillheads and probably should have won both by more than we did,” he said.

“But in Telford they are a lot more aggressive and seem to be more confident in themselves.

“So it’s up to us to make sure they we go out with the right attitude, stay disciplined, play hockey the way we know we can and stick to the game plan; do that and I’m confident we can get the points we need.

“It is a massive game for us - because of the four points at stake - and a quick look at the league table will show how quickly we can close the gap on Nottingham to just four points this weekend, if we win both nights,” Leach added.

The Warriors are looking to put out the same side that beat Telford 5-1 at Hillheads last Sunday for the game in Shropshire tomorrow, but will be without Garry Dowd and Jordan Barnes for this evenings trip to Kingston.

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