Leeds Knights v Hull Seahawks: Coach Ryan Aldridge cites 'blueprint' Knights need to copy to enjoy success
RYAN ALDRIDGE has seen the blueprint for how his team can be successful this season - he just wants to see it more often.
It was clear for all who watched Aldridge’s post-match press conference after Sunday’s 5-3 defeat at home to Swindon Wildcats, that the Leeds Knights head coach was far from happy with his team’s efforts over a weekend which also brought a 2-0 defeat on the road at Milton Keynes.
But it was against those same two teams that Aldridge believes his players have been at their best, both times on the road, the first being a 5-2 win at Milton Keynes in mid-October and, just three weeks ago, a 4-1 win at NIHL National leaders Swindon.
When asked if the win at Swindon was the example for his team to follow, Aldridge replied: “I think so.
“That first Milton Keynes game away was, too, and we talked about playing like that for the rest of the year and then Swindon away, I felt we had jump, we had everything and it was possibly our best performance this season.”
Their second pointless weekend of the campaign has left the Knights - gunning for their fourth straight regular season crown - seven points adrift of Swindon.
Aldridge admits it is a big gap to bridge, but acknowledges there is a lot of hockey still to be played, with Friday night bringing a second visit of the season from Yorkshire rivals Hull Seahawks.
Matty Davies’s team head west along the M62 in their best run of form all season, back-to-back overtime wins over Romford Raiders stretching their winning streak to four games and taking them to within six points of their hosts.
“It’s going to be two good teams going at it,” added Aldridge. “I think they have turned a corner with their style of play and that suits them, they are a very skilled hockey team - good imports, good Brits - just a good hockey team.
“So we need to make sure we come up with the right mentality, the same kind of mentality we had when we played at Milton Keynes and at Swindon.
“It’s our first game of the weekend, so we can throw everything at it.”