Leeds Knights 2 looking to kickstart season on 'massive' derby weekend against Sheffield Scimitars
IT HAS been a frustrating start to the NIHL North One season for Davey Lawrence and his Leeds Knights 2 side – winning just two of their nine games so far.
However, they were presented with a tough schedule in the first month or so, one that has included two games each against last season’s league champions, Billingham Stars, this season’s current leaders Blackburn Hawks, as well as two meetings with Deeside Dragons, who reached the play-off semi-finals last season and are some peoples favourites for honours this time around.
However, as they head into a double header with Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Scimitars - winless after 10 games - Lawrence believes his team has an opportunity to kick-start their season.
“We've got a bit of a run here where we've got Sheffield twice this weekend and then we've got Widnes and Nottingham coming up,” said Lawrence.
“I'm not saying they'll be easy, but they're easier on paper than the games we've had up to now.
“So, it's about resetting a little bit, regrouping, looking at what we've done right, looking at what we've done wrong and trying to improve the bits that we've done wrong and start picking up points.”
While Leeds will fancy their chances against the rock-bottom Scimitars across both nights, Lawrence insists nothing should be taken for granted.
He would love to add to the wins his team has secured so far against Nottingham Lions and Deeside.
“We have to look to get two wins out of two,” he added. “I've looked at Sheffield's roster and it is quite surprising to see that they've not picked any points up yet - that should serve as somewhat of a warning to us to not go into these games too lightly.
“We've got to treat it like any other game, but it is important that we pick up the points that we need to get us moving forward. It's a massive weekend for us really.”