Sheffield Steeldogs v Leeds Chiefs - Sam Zajac sees opportunity for Chiefs to get upwardly mobile

LEEDS CHIEFS head back to where their story began on Friday night, confident in the knowledge they have made huge strides in the subsequent six weeks.
FOCUSSED: Leeds Chiefs' player-coach Sam Zajac is looking for his team to pick up at least one win this weekend. Picture courtesy of Chris Stratford.FOCUSSED: Leeds Chiefs' player-coach Sam Zajac is looking for his team to pick up at least one win this weekend. Picture courtesy of Chris Stratford.
FOCUSSED: Leeds Chiefs' player-coach Sam Zajac is looking for his team to pick up at least one win this weekend. Picture courtesy of Chris Stratford.

Sam Zajac’s team opened their account at Ice Sheffield back on September 15, facing off for the first time ever when Sheffield Steeldogs provided a not-so warm welcome to life in the UK game’s second tier.

The Chiefs lost out 3-1 in that particular Yorkshire derby encounter, having gone into the game on the back of just a single full practise session over the Pennines in Blackburn, necessary because of delays to the construction of the new Elland Road rink.

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Blackburn is where the Chiefs continue to train on Wednesday evenings and where three of their first four ‘home’ games will now have to be staged due to further delays to the rink’s completion.

But it is a short trip down the M1 that is of immediate concern to player-coach Zajac and his players as they head into a weekend which could see them move off the bottom of the table and closer to a top-eight play-off spot.

Reflecting on what has been a challenging start to the season, Zajac has been particularly impressed with the resilience shown by his team throughout the various ups and downs they have faced, proving to him that they have the necesssary talent and desire to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming weeks.

“In that first game, we gave what I felt was a very creditabble performance,” said Zajac.

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“We’d not been together that long and a lot of what got us through that game was probably just the adrenaline and excitement.

“And although we’ve had a lot of ups and downs since then, we’ve definitely come out of it as a stronger group than we were six weeks ago at Ice Sheffield.

“The resilience of the guys has been really impressive. We’ve had a lot of challenges to deal with but we just have this never-say-die attitude.

“In every game we’ve played, we’ve been right there until the end and that is a great characteristic to have for a team.”

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The Chiefs head into tonight’s derby clash on the back of two one-goal defeats last weekend, the first a 4-3 reverse at joint-leaders Swindon Wildcats, followed by a 5-4 overtime defeat at Hull Pirates.

WE MEET AGAIN: Leeds Chiefs' Steven Moore prepares to face-off against Sheffield Steeldogs' Nathan Salem in last month's meeting at Ice Sheffield. Picture courtesy of Chris Stratford.WE MEET AGAIN: Leeds Chiefs' Steven Moore prepares to face-off against Sheffield Steeldogs' Nathan Salem in last month's meeting at Ice Sheffield. Picture courtesy of Chris Stratford.
WE MEET AGAIN: Leeds Chiefs' Steven Moore prepares to face-off against Sheffield Steeldogs' Nathan Salem in last month's meeting at Ice Sheffield. Picture courtesy of Chris Stratford.

But that point from Sunday’s trip to East Yorkshire means Zajac’s team head into this weekend knowing three points – combined with results elsewhere – could see them move up the standings, particularly given that Sunday night sees them head to Milton Keynes Lightning, the team immediately above them.

But, first, the Chiefs need to take something out of tonight’s game before trying to exact revenge on a Lightning team who beat them 8-4 last month.

“Morgs (Steeldogs’ coach Ben Morgan) will have this one as a must-win game for them, particularly after two losses last weekend,” added Zajac.

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“They have had a really good start to the season but the beauty of this league is that it is so tight – there is so much parity throughout.

TAKE THAT: Cam Brownley gets in a shot on Leeds' netminder Sam Gospel. Picture courtesy of Cerys Molloy.TAKE THAT: Cam Brownley gets in a shot on Leeds' netminder Sam Gospel. Picture courtesy of Cerys Molloy.
TAKE THAT: Cam Brownley gets in a shot on Leeds' netminder Sam Gospel. Picture courtesy of Cerys Molloy.

“Sheffield are not going to be expecting an easy game and they know that they will have to earn anything they get out of us.

“But, likewise, we need to make sure we out-work and out-perform them if we are to stand a chance of taking anything from the game.”