Leeds Knights aware National Cup lead means nothing as Sheffield Steeldogs prepare to attack

​Tonight, he hopes, will be no different.

Sheffield Steeldogs head to Elland Road Ice Arena for a third time this season looking to overturn a three-goal deficit in the Challenge Cup semi-final second leg clash between the Yorkshire rivals, the Knights having deservedly prevailed 5-2 in the first leg a week ago.

On paper, coming out at the start of the 60 minutes three goals to the good obviously gives tonight’s hosts a significant advantage.

But nobody in the Knights’ locker room will be taking anything for granted, knowing as they do, how dangerous the Steeldogs can be, particularly with a potent top line of Jason Hewitt, Matt Bissonnette and Alex Graham who, having now had three full games together again, should pose a more significant threat than they did at Ice Sheffield.

Knights’ head coach Ryan Aldridge expects the Steeldogs to come out fast and hard in an attempt to reduce the aggregate score as quickly as possible and put the pressure on his players in their own building.

“They are going to come out flying and we have to be ready for that,” said Aldridge. “I actually think they play better in our building than they do in their own, they seem more suited to the smaller ice.

“They’ve got to start the game with a bang and we just need to make sure we can weather that storm and then try and take control of the game for ourselves.

“We eventually took control in the end down at their place last week - especially in that third period - and we’ve got to try and do the same in this game.”

Tonight’s showdown is the first of three games in as many nights for the Knights with an arguably bigger game on the schedule on Saturday when they head south to take on NIHL National leaders Milton Keynes Lightning.

Tim Wallace’s team are also in semi-final action tonight, trailing 1-0 as they head into their second leg against Peterborough Phantoms.

Both teams will be desperate to make it through to the final, but will also have one eye on their own encounter 24 hours later.

The Lightning hold a one-point advantage over the Knights and Peterborough, although Aldridge’s team do have three games in hand on their rivals.

Playing two equally intense games in such a short space of time will see the Knights rely on their older, more experienced players even more than usual.

Centre Matt Haywood, who made the switch to Leeds after 11 years in the Elite League with Glasgow Clan, is confident he and those around him will not let either occasion get away from them.

“It sounds cliched but when you’ve got a young group of guys, you do just have to take the next game as it comes along,”said Haywood.

“We’ve got to try and get past Sheffield in the Cup first before we think about anything else. I know we’ve got a three-goal lead going into it, but that doesn’t mean anything against Sheffield.

“They are a good, solid, well-drilled machine who excel in those two-legged ties as we’ve seen in play-offs and cup competitions down the years.

“So we know it’s definitely not over - we’re just focussing on that for now and then we’ll turn our attention to MK straight after.”