Leeds Knights: Coach Dave Whistle backs players to come through biggest challenge against Swindon Wildcats

THROUGHOUT the course of Leeds Knights’ first-ever season, coach Dave Whistle has wanted his players to meet every challenge head on.
WELCOME BACK: Harry Gulliver, seen celebrating scoring for Leeds Knights in the Autumn Cup semi-final win over Sheffield Steeldogs, will be part of the Knights team taking on Swindon Wildcats in the first leg of tonight's final. Picture: Bruce RollinsonWELCOME BACK: Harry Gulliver, seen celebrating scoring for Leeds Knights in the Autumn Cup semi-final win over Sheffield Steeldogs, will be part of the Knights team taking on Swindon Wildcats in the first leg of tonight's final. Picture: Bruce Rollinson
WELCOME BACK: Harry Gulliver, seen celebrating scoring for Leeds Knights in the Autumn Cup semi-final win over Sheffield Steeldogs, will be part of the Knights team taking on Swindon Wildcats in the first leg of tonight's final. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

He expects the 120 minutes that are to come against Swindon Wildcats in the Autumn Cup Final to be their biggest challenge yet.

Leeds will go into tonight’s first leg of the encounter at The Link Centre as underdogs, regardless of them having won on their two previous visits there.

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LEARNING PROCESS: Leeds Knights' head coach Dave Whistle Picture: James Hardisty.LEARNING PROCESS: Leeds Knights' head coach Dave Whistle Picture: James Hardisty.
LEARNING PROCESS: Leeds Knights' head coach Dave Whistle Picture: James Hardisty.
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Swindon are very much the form team in the second-tier NIHL National at the moment, a remarkable record of just one defeat in regulation from 17 games lifting them six points clear at the top of the standings.

Crucially for the Knights, they are back to something nearly resembling full-strength, having endured a miserable couple of months on the injury front which has left them playing short-benched on too many occasions to mention.

Talismanic captain and defenceman Sam Zajac is unavailable for the final, but the return in recent weeks of players such as forwards Cole Shudra and Matty Davies, along with goaltender Sam Gospel and defencemen Ross Kennedy and Jordan Griffin, has given the Knights the belief that they can rediscover the kind of form that saw them win their first six games in the group phase of the Autumn Cup back in September.

BACK IN THE GAME: Lewis Baldwin has been passed fit to return to action for Leeds Knights in time for Friday night's Autumn Cup Final clash with Swindon Wildcats Picture: James HardistyBACK IN THE GAME: Lewis Baldwin has been passed fit to return to action for Leeds Knights in time for Friday night's Autumn Cup Final clash with Swindon Wildcats Picture: James Hardisty
BACK IN THE GAME: Lewis Baldwin has been passed fit to return to action for Leeds Knights in time for Friday night's Autumn Cup Final clash with Swindon Wildcats Picture: James Hardisty
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Since then, consistency has proved elusive for the Knights – injury issues being the only consistent thing about them.

But Whistle has seen enough in his squad to give him the belief that they can rise to their latest challenge and go on to conquer it by the time the second leg at Elland Road has been completed next Thursday.

“If I’m honest, I think if we’d had a couple of less injuries at certain times, we’d probably be a couple of places better off in the league standings,” said Whistle.

SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS:  Leeds Knights' Kieran Brown lays a mid-ice hit on Swindon's Balint Pakozdi. Picture: James Hardisty.SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS:  Leeds Knights' Kieran Brown lays a mid-ice hit on Swindon's Balint Pakozdi. Picture: James Hardisty.
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS: Leeds Knights' Kieran Brown lays a mid-ice hit on Swindon's Balint Pakozdi. Picture: James Hardisty.
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“But, at the same time, it’s challenging. I think some of our players haven’t been through some of these things in the past and it has challenged them to be better at everything, not just whatever they like doing most – you know, if they’re a goalscorer and they only score – it challenges them to be better when they don’t have the puck, it makes them work back harder if they have to do that for their team-mate.”

The best example of the Knights’ rising to the challenge was in the semi-finals against Sheffield Steeldogs, another situation which saw them go into a two-legged encounter against the second-tier’s form team.

After a defence-first approach saw them win the first leg in Sheffield 3-1, they completed the job – with the odd scare – when beating their Yorkshire rivals 6-5 on home ice two nights later.

“ Against Sheffield everyone really bought into that team ethos in those two games,” said Whistle. “The first game, holy mackerel, we didn’t have hardly anybody and we played it really smart, we slowed the game down, we did everything that we talked about and it worked.

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“These are all learning curves for younger players and that’s why I was so pleased with those performances.”

Leeds will head down to Wiltshire buoyed by the news that defenceman Lewis Baldwin and Joe Coulter have both recovered from the injury concerns that kept them both out of Sunday’s 6-4 defeat at Raiders IHC.

Shudra is also available, while two-way forward Harry Gulliver will also make the journey.

Illness has ruled out defenceman Ross Kennedy, however, who had only just returned from a long injury lay-off last weekend.

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