Billingham Stars continue their quest to secure a play-off place with four National League points on offer this weekend.
This afternoon they travel west to take on basement club Manchester Minotaurs at Altrincham Ice Dome (5pm face-off).
The Lancastrians are guaranteed a last-place finish after a miserable campaign that has yet to yield a point.
They have struggled to ice a full squad all season and suffered the consequences, however they have shown some flashes of potential on the rare occasions they have had a larger bench at their disposal.
Then the Stars welcome Solway Sharks to the Forum tomorrow evening (6.30pm face-off), the Scots being one of the five teams scrapping it out for the three remaining play-off places in Moralee Divcision One (North).
A single point separates the two sides, with Sheffield Spartans and Whitley Warriors waiting to pounce on any slip-ups from the teams above them.
Last year’s champions Solway have had a patchy campaign and last Sunday they saw their league title go to Blackburn Hawks.
Their one remaining trophy – that of play-off champions – remains in the balance, and as hosts failure to make the end-of-season showpiece is not seen as an option.
Again lack of personnel has hurt the Sharks, but with bodies returning in recent games the Dumfries-based outfit are sure to provide a stern test and a tough game is in prospect.
Billingham dropped to third place following last weekend’s loss to Sutton Sting.
But they have been buoyed by the return of Thomas Stuart-Dant and James Moss from injury for an important weekend.
Ben Davison and captain Paul Windridge have trained despite carrying knocks and should start, while netminder James Flavell could be available for the crucial tie with Solway.
The mood in the camp is positive, with the team recognising that a four-point weekend would put them in pole position in the race to Dumfries.
However director of coaching Terry Ward is looking ahead no further than the Manchester game.
“It really is just one game at a time for us,” he said, “we can’t do it any other way. We have to concentrate on the Minotaurs first.
“We want to take two points out of Manchester before we even think about Solway.
“But certainly the target has to be a four-point weekend, we want to make sure that we’re in those play-offs and the sooner the better.
“Every game from now until the end of the regular season is critical.
“The great news is that it looks like we’ll have some guys back – we have missed both Thomas and James from our top two lines, so if we can get them both back and playing that stands us in good stead.
“Paul has trained despite a couple of broken fingers, and having Ben also on the ice is an unexpected bonus as he looked doubtful after the Sting game.
“At this stage of the season injuries tend to hit every team, sometimes the difference can be who manages their treatment room the best.”
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