Telford Tigers coach Tom Watkins insists his side will bounce back from Saturday night’s 6-2 defeat to Basingstoke Bison.
A short-benched Tigers outfit had the better of the early chances in Hampshire, but a rash of Bison goals later in the game sealed victory.
Watkins believes the return of several players for Sunday night’s visit of Sheffield Steeldogs (6pm) will help give his men a crucial lift.
He said: “We’ll bounce back from that game tonight. We’ll come back and be better against Sheffield tomorrow.
“With Rick Plant back and the addition of Joe Aston and Corey Goodison, we will have a bit more depth. That will be really important.
“We have a great group of guys here and they don’t normally take much lifting to play at home. They’re a keen bunch and want to win.
“I am sure that we will come back and give everything we’ve got tomorrow. We have a good group of fans behind us and they will give us a big lift.”
The first period saw Telford enjoy the better of the early running, with Milan Kolena opening the scoring on just four minutes.
The Tigers forward latched onto a pass from Matty Davies in the centre lane to send the puck high into Tomas Hiadlovsky’s goal.
But the visitors were unable to capitalise on that early strike, and Basingstoke hit back on the powerplay just six minutes later.
That goal came courtesy of Ciaran Long, as he scored with a clinical shot past Sam Gospel.
Watkins said: “It was always going to be a tough game for us tonight, but we played okay.
“It was disappointing on the penalty kill and powerplay, and I think that was ultimately the difference between the two teams.”
Basingstoke extended their lead with three further goals in the second session, thanks to Rene Jarolin (2) and Ciaran Long.
But Telford looked to have gathered momentum with their second goal of the night, scored on the verge of the interval.
Tigers captain Jason Silverthorn was on target from close range, following a cross from Doug Clarkson.
“That goal gave us a good buzz and to score at that point, we were happy with that,” Watkins said.
“I said to the guys in the break that we’ve got everything to play for, with it being a two-goal game.”
That momentum failed to lift Telford in the final period, however, as Basingstoke scored twice more through Long and Jarolin to secure the points.
Watkins added: “I thought we had some pretty good chances, but were perhaps a little bit unlucky.
“Basingstoke put a lot of pucks to the net and into key areas, got a couple of good bounces, and we were a little bit soft off the back door.
“But I can’t fault anyone tonight.”
The Tigers are back in action tomorrow night (Sunday) when the host Sheffield Steeldogs at Telford Ice Rink (6pm). For tickets, go to www.tigershockeyuk.com.
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