The 27-year-old Canadian forward went some way to answering his critics last weekend by registering his first points of the season with three assists in the games against Hull Stingrays and Basingstoke Bison.

Now he is looking to add a goal or two as the Elite League's fiercest rivals go head-to-head for a second time.

Nottingham earned bragging rights last time around, coming from behind for a 5-4 victory after scoring the game-winning goal with less than two minutes remaining.

Click the green PLAY button to listen to exclusive interviews with Sheffield Steelers' Nathan Gillies and Rod Sarich

But the Steelers will hope to have put their stuttering start to the season behind them after registering their first four-point tally last weekend and are looking to close the gap between themselves and the Panthers, who are currently tucked in behind leaders Belfast Giants.

Dave Matsos's side travel to Northern Ireland on Saturday night for a Challenge Cup tie against the Giants before returning home for the eagerly-anticipated clash against Nottingham.

Gillies, currently enjoying his first season in the UK after making the switch from the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers, is determined to play his part in enabling the Steelers to discover some consitency.

"The Nottingham game was very competitive, there was a fight in the first few seconds which was awesome and set the tone," said Gillies.

"That kind of thing sets the kind of atmosphere that I like in games – to have it that competitive and I know our team can compete at that level all the time.

"If we were like that (against Nottingham) every night we would maybe have only lost one game. However, because of bad bounces here and there we haven't - but that's what hockey is all about."

While Gillies admitted he hadn't had the best of starts to his UK career, the support of his team-mates and the coaching staff - including Matsos - had helped take some of the pressure off.

"That kind of thing (support) is huge for a player," he added. "It takes the weight off my back and then I'm not as hard on myself as I probably used to be, so having his confidence and having the boys' confidence and them letting me know that I'm still doing my job and I'm still doing my best is very helpful.

"People can say what they want, but we're harder on ourselves than anybody - that's the nature of any professional sport."

Click the green PLAY button to listen to interviews with Sheffield Steelers' Nathan Gillies and Rod Sarich

Before Nottingham arrive in Sheffield on Sunday, they will have to negotiate a potential banana skin at Hull Stingrays.

The game has been given added spice with the controversial return of Rick Kozak to the home side's line up.

Kozak was first handed the lenghty suspension after an altercation with Nottingham's Marc Levers during their match at the National Ice Centre on September 7, which the home side won 6-2.

Levers required stiches to a head wound while Hull's 23-year-old winger was charged with sucker-punching and bringing the game into disrepute.

Rick Strachan will also hand a debut to defenceman Aaron Wilson, who arrived in the UK earlier this week as a replacement Jonathan Bernier, who quit the club after less than a month.

Hull are still waiting for the paperwork to be completed before being able to introduce forward Ukrainian-born Konstantin Kalmikov, who is replacing the axed Jake Riddle.