Leeds Knights target tenacious approach to help tame resurgent Telford Tigers

The Knights sit second in the NIHL National standings, having bounced back from a 6-2 defeat at new leaders Milton Keynes Lightning with a hard-fought 3-1 win at home to Peterborough Phantoms.

But Aldridge believes it is by replicating the form shown in last weekend’s defeat as opposed to the win which will serve them better against Tom Watkins’s team at Elland Road Ice Arena.

Telford arrive on the back of a defeat to Sheffield Steeldogs, having won five straight prior to Sunday night’s visit from Ben Morgan’s team.

It has helped them overcome a tough start to the 2024-25 campaign which saw them rooted to the bottom for the first few weeks.

“Telford are obviously very confident right now,” said Aldridge. “We last played them when they had brought in some new imports, they had only been in the country for two or three weeks and they were still finding their feet.

“This league is very different to most leagues in the world but they’ve found their feet and have won five out of their last six games.

“They might have lost their last game but they’re going to be full of confidence.

“So we’ve got to be ready, we’ve got to play our game. We’ve got to be tenacious and play the Leeds Knights way and grind out a win.

“I thought our performance on Saturday night (against Milton Keynes) was head and shoulders above the one on Sunday.

“If we have a performance like we did on Saturday against Milton Keynes - but play for 60 minutes instead of just 40 or 50 minutes then we’ll be successful.”

Alrdridge believes that the league has become more difficult this season and acknowledges there will be more losses along the way as they strive for a third straight regular season crown.

““It’s silly mistakes which are costing us goals at the moment and we’re trying to cut them out, but it’s a mental process,” he added.

““We’re still just a point behind Milton Keynes and I think we deserved to get more out of that game at theirs last Saturday. We should have won at home against them, but lost in a shoot-out.

“I think because we’ve been so dominant over the last two years, people just expect us to win, ourselves included. But as the league gets stronger, games will get tougher and we’re going to have to lose more hockey games this season and learn to lose at times.”