Ice hockey: Why Belfast give Steelers giant clue about what Panthers will bring to the arena tomorrow

He lined up against the reigning champions in EIHL back-to-back action for the first time last weekend and saw their strengths first hand.

So the fact that Giants were beaten by Nottingham earlier this month suggests to him that the Panthers should be equally respected when they come to Sheffield Arena on Saturday, for the first League meeting of the season.

Neumann, who is now the second top points scorer at Sheffield, says his side had so far performed well against Notts, a team that has lost its last three matches, including a 6-1 hiding at Fife Flyers.

But he warned: “Nottingham beat Belfast so we know what they are capable of, we can’t look down on them at all.

“They are a good hockey team and we have to come prepared.”

Any lull in performance levels could be ruthlessly punished by a sixth-place club looking for a revival under the returning coach Corey Neilson.

Steelers, themselves, have had to refocus since last Sunday’s loss.

After that disappointment, Neumann says the team has had to “regroup, look at what we did wrong against Belfast, re-set the mindset, and prepare for Nottingham.”

Neumann is one of 11 skaters who have not missed a game so far this season, in his debut season at Sheffield.

“It is different, every game is a play off game so we can’t have a night off,” he says.

That was why the defeat by Belfast “hurt us that much more.”

So far this term, Steelers have gone a winning run after they’ve been beaten and haven’t lost two on the bounce – a statistic that means a lot to the 23-year-old Canadian forward.

“We don’t want a losing streak, we have got to bounce right back and get the two points and pick up where we left off. We will be ready.”

There was controversy last weekend about team-mate Matt Petgrave’s actions and the refereeing of incidnets involving him.

But Neumann said he doesn’t get overly involved in such matters.

“I don’t think much about isolated incidents and how referees deal with them,” he said.

“Some nights it’s against us, some nights it’s for us...I don’t think about that too much. “Whatever they call they call and you just have to be prepared for your next shift and go out there and play your game.”

Of Petgrave, he said: “He has been great for us.

“He is a highly offensive player and he plays hard so it doesn’t affect him too much – we know he is a guy we can trust back there every shift.”

Meanwhile, Matt Myers, who led training sessions at Nottingham before Neilson arrived today, said the returning coach would bring a fresh start to the club.

Myers said Panthers had been playing “absolute rubbish hockey so we need to first of all start playing better and feel good about going on the ice and facing every team.

“Hopefully that can translate into a win against Sheffield, Saturday night.”

Neilson has said it was “Sod’s law” that his first game back at the helm would be against Steelers.

The South Yorkshire club expects more than 7,000 fans for Saturday’s game.