Tom Watkins refused to criticise his short-handed Telford Tigers squad after watching them labour to a 4-2 win over Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday night.
A packed Tigers treatment room has seen Watkins’ selection options reduced by long-term injuries to the senior trio of Jason Silverthorn, Phil Hill and Jonathan Weaver.
And with both Marcus Maynard and Joe Graham also injured, the county men were reduced to just four fit defencemen for Sunday’s encounter at Telford Ice Rink.
Head coach Watkins, who watched his side beat Manchester 3-2 in overtime just 24 hours earlier, said: “I thought it was a slow game throughout and for the 60 minutes we weren’t really at our best.
“I think the guys were tired with being short benched, and having battled so hard against Manchester on Saturday night. We never got any flow or tempo, but we got the job done and that’s what is important.”
Neither side managed to trouble the scorers early on, with the first goal coming on 25 minutes, thanks to Peter Szabo.
Andrei Makrov struck for Telford just before the second period break, as the hosts looked to have proceedings under control.
The Steeldogs closed the gap to just a single goal on 43 minutes, although Makrov restored his side’s cushion a few moments later.
Sheffield scored again on 54 minutes, before removing their netminder in the search for an equaliser.
That left them exposed at the back, however, giving Szabo the chance to secure victory with an empty net goal.
Watkins added: “Our special teams were very good against Manchester and it was the same tonight, especially our penalty killing.
“We scored three powerplay goals, so the special teams really do make a big difference. They are very important for us.”
The Tigers are back in action on Wednesday night, when they play Manchester Phoenix in another away game – at Telford Ice Rink.
Problems with obtaining ice time at Manchester’s home rink in Deeside means the match will be classed as a home game for the Phoenix.
Alongside a further midweek game on March 16th, that means Watkins must juggle his short-handed squad to handle a run of six games in just 14 days.
“It is a heavy schedule, and we’re not really used to playing midweek, so to have two back-to-back is going to be tough,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of bodies missing, with Weaver, Silverthorn and Hill all out long-term. Joe Graham has been out since November, while Marcus is day to day.
“Probably the only guy who we might have back by next weekend is Marcus.”
Face-off in Wednesday night’s game is 7.30pm.
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