Leeds Knights leave hype outside the door as they look to shoot down nearest rivals Milton Keynes Lightning

The mouthwatering clash between the second-tier’s top two seems to have been on the horizon forever, ever since the rivals first emerged as the early-season form teams when enjoying unbeaten starts.

The Lightning’s winning streak came to an end after eight games when losing 4-2 at Swindon Wildcats last Saturday.

They bounced back immediately with a 6-2 win at home to Bristol Pitbulls the following night and will be determined to end Leeds’s lofty status as the division’s only remaining team with a 100 per cent record when they step out at Elland Road Ice Arena following their long drive up the M1.

But Knights head coach Ryan Aldridge insists that while there has been plenty of hype surrounding the encounter and what may or may not be at stake for Leeds, inside the Knights’ locker room there has been no mention of unbeaten records, no chatter about winning streaks or talk of 100 per cent starts.

MORE: Leeds Knights: How Zach Brooks set the tone to help Knights maintain winning start to NIHL National season

Sure, Aldridge and the players are aware of how well they have started the 2022-23 campaign, how can they not be?

MORE – Leeds Knights: Meet their 2022-23 NIHL National table-topping roster

But it is not something they or their coach are thinking too much about, concentrating only on the next performance.

“I don’t believe we even think about it,” said Aldridge. “We don’t talk about the unbeaten record in the room, it’s not something that comes up. All we keep talking about are performances.

“That’s something that is reassuring for me as a coach. The boys understand that, first and foremost, I just want performances from them. If we lose and we’ve played great, well, what can we do about it? We’ve either got beaten by a better team fair and square, or the luck maybe hasn’t gone our way.

“To be honest, I probably moan more when we win and haven’t played great than I do if we lose having played well. It’s just about performances and if the boys perform every night, over the course of a season it should take care of itself.”

Aldridge is under no illusion as to the quality of opposition heading to Leeds, but he takes comfort in the knowledge of how well his team has dealt with similar challenges already this season, most notably across double-header weekends against the likes of Peterborough Phantoms and, most recently, Basingstoke Bison.

“If we play like we did against Basingstoke on Sunday in our building, then we’ve got a good chance this Friday,” added Aldridge. “And we’re certainly not intimidated by anybody in our league in any way - Friday will be no different.

“Milton Keynes are a good, solid hockey team and they are going to come into our building and play a proper game of hockey and we’re looking forward to that.

“We’re looking forward to a battle and playing a hard hockey game and hopefully we’ll come out the right side of it.”

Boasting such attacking threats as Liam Stewart and Bobby Chamberlain, it is no surprise the Lightning are seen by many as a genuine candidate for silverware this season.

But while tonight’s visitors probably have more depth and experience than their hosts, Aldridge has complete faith in his roster to get the job done.

“Yeah, I think so,” he replied when asked if he felt the two teams were similar in style and strength. “They’ve probably got more numbers than us and they’ve got some excellent players but, for me, on any night, would I back my team? 100 per cent. Would I back my team over a season? 100 per cent.

“I know what my team and my players bring to the table and I wouldn’t change that for a second.”