Sheffield Steeldogs: Familiar faces return to city as Steeldogs prepare for double-header

Ben Morgan's team welcome Telford Tigers on Sunday, 48 hours after a visit from Leeds Chiefs.

For Steeldogs, last weekend was the least successful of the new campaign with two losses including a painful defeat to Swindon with 72 seconds left in the game.

For Coach Morgan, recent results have confirmed the level of competitiveness that exists across the new look National Division.

“It’s fantastic how even the league is - there are so many unexpected results," he said.

"I’ve said to lots of people that it’ll will take a good while to really see the form across the league, probably late November maybe even into December. I wouldn’t be surprised if the eventual champions lose 10 games at the very least.

“The league is so much closer top to bottom than the old EPL and games will be lost by everyone - as we have already seen.

"There’s such excitement, with no real favourites on any given night and teams can take four or two points or no points from a weekend. It’s about making sure you keep working if you lose, because the next weekend is a fresh opportunity and that how we approach this weekend. Maximum points and I think we are completely back on track.

“We get to put things right on Friday night against a Leeds team that has seen performances and results picking up, which means better hockey, more entertainment for the fans to come and watch.

"I’ll be making it clear to the boys that this is not the same team that we played back in game one of the season. They’ve made some changes and they’re getting better week on week. We will be doing a lot of work in training this week, potential changes to lines, to units, so a lot of work going on to be ready.”

The Leeds line-up has plenty of familiar faces – and a new one has joined them recently, Liam Charnock, with the former Steeldog now a Chief.

“There are lots of links with the Dogs and with previous Sheffield teams, guys that have played out of iceSheffield in the past so I’m sure there’ll be guys who see it as a bit of a homecoming," said Morgan.

"It’ll be nice for Charns and a nice chance for us to thank him for his years of service to the club.

"Ultimately though it’s another game, another chance to get a win and two points. We then look for another performance against Telford for a four-point weekend to take us back to where we want to be.”