Whitley Warriors have 2 road games this weekend as Simon Leach’s side take on the Sheffield Spartans on Saturday afternoon at Ice Sheffield before facing the Billingham Stars on Teesside on Sunday evening. Warriors will be looking to build upon last weekend’s superb 5-3 success against the Solway Sharks which saw influential forward Adam Reynolds back on the Whitley roster after a lengthy spell out of action due to a broken ankle.
Simon Leach shared his views on Warriors January schedule and also on the players he has available to him for this weekend’s games.
“January is a make or break month for us as we have half of our remaining games in the month. We really need to make sure we are fully prepared for every game as the league is so tight at the minute and teams are changing positions after every single game. We can’t afford to slip up and drop points against any of the teams around us.
“Adam (Reynolds) had his first game back last weekend and he did well, he got some penalty kill and powerplay time and he was calm on the puck when we needed him to be. He also got himself a goal and we are very happy with his performance against Solway.
“Paul Matthews hasn’t skated this week and we aren’t going to rush him or any other guys back, we might have to shuffle the pack a little bit but we have to focus on the Sheffield game first and foremost.
“Sheffield are a good team and they play really well at home, we’ve played them once at their venue this season when we were short benched and we managed to get a draw on that occasion.
“Our game on Sunday doesn’t need any introduction as it’s obviously a local derby against Billingham. We know what we are capable of and we are hopefully going to build on last weekend’s victory over Solway.”
Warriors game at Ice Sheffield on Saturday against the Spartans faces off at 4.30pm, Sunday’s clash with Billingham is due to get underway at 6.30pm. It is hoped that many Whitley fans will be able attend both of the clubs games this weekend as Warriors genuinely appreciate all the support they get from the stands.