Telford Tigers have "plenty of positives to build on" says player-coach

Saturday night's pre-season challenge game saw Telford go down 8-1 in Wiltshire, before a home debut on Sunday - in front of over 400 fans - ended in a 7-2 defeat.

But with just a week left before next Saturday's opening English Premier League encounter, Watkins is confident his side has the potential to compete for wins.

He said: "We were very slow at the start of Saturday night's game, and were behind the eight-ball before we knew it. We were very solid in the third period, but were down in the third.

"On Sunday, we started okay, but gave up a poor goal off the bat early in the first period. But the guys stuck with it and were grinding away. To be honest, in the second and third period I was pleased with our play.

"Over the course of the weekend we made too many mistakes to really have an impact on the results, but generally there were plenty of positives to build on."

Jiri Hanzal was the scorer on Saturday night, while on Sunday, Juraj Senko and Marek Hornak struck for the Tigers.

Telford will, ironically, face Swindon in their first league game, so it looks to be a busy week ahead for the newly-formed squad.

Watkins added: "Each week we have go to get better.We can't afford to give away the turnover like we did tonight. We can't afford to get on the wrong side of the puck like we did tonight and yesterday, so there is always plenty to work on."

A positive point for the Tigers will have been their workrate, with Sunday night's game seeing them outshoot their rivals by 41 shots to 30.

And for Swindon coach Pete Russell, that lack of success in front of goal was the main difference between the two sides.

He said: "Telford worked hard and Tom has got them well organised. Maybe they are lacking some firepower, but they seem to be a solid side."

Telford's league season starts with the visit of Swindon on Saturday night, before a trip to Guildford Flames on Sunday.