Tigers coach Tom Watkins has hailed the fitness of his players during pre-season training, ahead of this weekend’s final friendly encounters with Hull Pirates.
Telford gave a glimpse of their potential last week, when they beat a highly-rated Milton Keynes Lightning side twice, including a 6-1 victory in Shropshire.
TELFORD TIGERS IN ACTION AGAINST MILTON KEYNES LIGHTNING LAST WEEKEND – photo credit Lawrence Bowyer
But with a further six days of pre-season training now under their belts, Watkins is prepared to make further tweaks to his squad, ahead of the first English Premier League games next week.
He said: “I think we look pretty good and as a group, the guys turned up in shape. Not everyone has had the chance to skate though the summer, but they’ve trained with real intensity and tempo.
“The pace of practice has been really high and that is something we want to continue throughout the year. Right now, it is about enforcing good habits, good communication and lots of little things.
“We’re implementing some identity of the way we want to play, so all in all, as a coach right now I’m pretty pleased with our schedule. Hopefully we can put two good performances together this weekend.”
Telford make the trip to Hull Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon, before bringing the curtain down on their preparations against the Pirates at Telford Ice Rink on Sunday (6pm).
Watkins added: “Honestly, it’s just about us at the moment. It’s not about Hull, or MK and of course we’ll be able to use some video for the next time we play, but right now it’s about what we do well.
“We need to focus on what we want to achieve in the games.”
Those wins against Milton Keynes last weekend saw Watkins experiment with different combinations on both evenings.
An injury to forward Joe Miller added further complications to his preparations, although he warned that places are still up for grabs.
“The standard of work has been good and there is a lot of competition for places,” Watkins said.
“Nobody is guaranteed any given spot on any given night. Everybody wants to play on the powerplay or penalty kill, but it won’t be like that.
“There will be a bottom six and a top six, and that’s how we will probably make it work. It was a little untidy on the bench last weekend, trying to give guys opportunities that perhaps they won’t play as much in those situations.
“Right now for me, it is about trying to see everybody in every situation, who can do what and who can do it to the best of their ability. Then it’s allowing guys to focus on what they do well.”
Telford’s game in Hull on Saturday night starts at 6pm, while Sunday’s return match in Shropshire also starts at 6pm.
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