Leeds Knights in need of jump as they switch their sights back to the main prize

Head coach Ryan Aldridge admits he has a tired group of players on his hands right now, one that came through a ridiculously busy Christmas and New Year schedule of playing eight games in 17 days - of which they won seven.

Between now and the end of the regular season on Sunday, March 31 the Knights have 19 more games to get through.

Nobody expected it to be an easy NIHL National title defence.

Yes, the Knights are certainly well-placed to retain their crown - currently sat three points clear of second-placed Milton Keynes Lightning with three games in hand - but the likelihood is that this race will go deeper into the season than last time out, when Aldridge’s team clinched it with five games to spare.

It remains theirs to lose but having two less games to worry about - in the shape of a two-leg National Cup final - will do them no harm.

Crucially, the Knights - out-played by the Seahawks across two nights - got back to winning ways straightaway with Saturday’s 4-1 win at home to Raiders IHC.

The same opponents provide the first test in a forthcoming three-game weekend which also sees them visit third-placed Swindon Wildcats before returning home to host Telford Tigers.

It would be easy to single out the Swindon clash as ‘pivotal’ but, essentially, every night up until the end of March will be ‘huge’.

Aldridge has always backed his players and the talent at his disposal, but he acknowledges not all of them have been firing on all cylinders in recent weeks.

“It was important to get back to winning ways after the cup defeat, of course it was, especially with us being so tired,” said Aldridge. “We needed the win.

“The performance was there from some guys, but I’ve been pretty disappointed in the last three games with some other guys.

“Some guys just aren’t with it at the moment, so we’ve got to find a way to get them going as soon as we possibly can.

“It’s funny isn’t it, because you obviously want to go for the cup, you need to go for the cup once you’ve done well in the league because you are just four wins from winning a trophy, so you have to try your hardest to go for it.

“We obviously did that, but it just didn’t work out for us. In hindsight, if we had gone through to the final, I think it would have had a massive impact on our league title chances.”