Manchester Phoenix head coach Tony Hand said his side had to be ‘realistic’ about their chances against league leaders Telford Tigers.
A frustrated Hand faces a long injury list and schedule which has thrown cup games and league games alike at the Manchester outfit, making rhythm a precious commodity.
After a stuttering start to the season with just four league wins in their first ten games, the Phoenix now host the free-scoring Tigers on Sunday, who average five goals a game so far this term.
“It’ll be a real test to see where we are and find out what we have to do to improve,” said Hand.
“We have to be realistic, as they’re the best team in the league and we’re still trying to find our lines, but you have to go into every game believing you can win.
“To beat them, we’ve got to take our chances and play the full 60 minutes. They’re the sort of team who, if you switch off, will score two or three goals.
The Phoenix produced mixed results last weekend, thrashing Blackburn Hawks in a cup game 12-5, but losing a seven-goal thriller the night before to Basingstoke Bison.
“Bison are a good team,” said Hand. “They came second last year and are probably going to have a good shot at the title this year as well, but we lost by the odd goal.
“I think we’ve got to put things into perspective. We still haven’t had a full squad since the season started, and I know I don’t want to be making excuses, but the guys are trying hard.”
It has been difficult to put a finger on what exactly has been going wrong for the depleted Phoenix roster, missing nearly an entire line of players, but Hand thinks that it is in front of goal that they need to improve.
“We’re in games until the final minute but we could probably do with finishing a bit more clinically up front, but I’m pretty happy with the effort of the guys,” Hand added.
“It’s a long season ahead, but it would be nice to get a full squad.”
Manchester Phoenix travel to Dumfries to play Solway Sharks in an EPL Cup clash, before returning the Altrincham Ice Dome for their encounter with Telford, facing off at 5:30pm.
Main image courtesy of officialphoenix via YouTube, with thanks.