Leeds Knights v Swindon Wildcats: Champions look to start hectic schedule by downing runaway leaders
NO MATTER which way you look at it, the schedule Leeds Knights face over the next couple of weeks is relentless.
Starting with Friday night’s visit from NIHL National leaders Swindon Wildcats the Knights face six games in just nine days.
Or, to look at it another way – when incorporating the first leg of their National Cup final against Sheffield Steeldogs on Thursday, February 26 and the long road trip to Basingstoke Bison that follows two days later – they have nine games in 17 days.
Either way it’s the kind of schedule which would push any team to the limit but, given the way the Knights are doing it tough on the injury front at the moment, it is a particularly daunting task that lies ahead.
Good job, then, that head coach Ryan Aldridge believes he has the players to get through it.
Having decided as a group to put all talk and thoughts of a league title pursuit to the back of their minds - Swindon are 15 points ahead with the Knights having just 14 points left to do something about it - Aldridge and his players are concentrating purely on themselves.
While there is no conceding yet of the regular season crown they have won for the last three seasons, they are aware of how tough it will be from their current position to make it four in a row.
And if, as is more or less certain, they fall short in the league, there are other targets for them to pursue, not least the defence of their Cup title. And that’s before we even get to the play-offs.
Last weekend saw the Knights emerge pointless from a weekend for just the third time this season, short-benched on the road at Swindon where debuts were given to teenage forwards Frankie O’Sullivan and Helgi Bjarnason in a 5-1 defeat.
Two nights later, at Peterborough Phantoms, O’Sullivan was retained in a line-up boosted by the return of Kieran Brown from injury and Finley Bradon from GB international duty.
A painful 5-4 defeat followed but, on both nights, Aldridge was proud of the effort displayed by his exhausted players.
This week numbers are bolstered by the return of teenage trio Liam Hine, Daragh Spawforth and Danny Harrison from being away with GB Under-18s at the Winter Challenge against hosts Hungary, while it is hoped defenceman Sam Cooper will be back to face former club the Steeldogs in Sheffield on Saturday.
To wrap up a hectic weekend, there is a road trip to Romford Raiders to negotiate on Sunday, ahead of a week which then features two meetings with Hull Seahawks - the first one on the road on Wednesday - before a long journey to Solway Sharks on February 22.
“I think the biggest thing for us is to just worry about our games and how we play,” said Aldridge.
“The Cup final is obviously coming up and we just need to concentrate on us being us and not getting caught up in that whole thing of focussing on Swindon.
“They are so far in front now they will have to have a serious slip-up - us or Sheffield will have to go on a serious run and I just don’t think it is going to happen.
“You can’t win it every year. You’ve just got to learn from it and try to make improvements where you can.
“Our main focus right now is the Cup but we’re certainly not saying that we’re giving up on anything (in terms of the league).
“It’s that we just want to focus on just us these next few weeks and if we focus on us and the wins come and the losses come for other teams then great, but getting caught up in thinking about a league title race is something we don’t really need right now.”