Great Britain v Netherlands - Ben O'Connor guards against over-confidence against struggling Dutch

The hosts sit joint-top of Division 1B with Japan, the two sides scheduled to meet in what many believe will be a promotion decider on Saturday evening at the SSE Arena.

GB maintained their winning run with a relatively comfortable 5-2 win over Lithuania on Wednesday night, an impressive result given the East Europeans had thrashed the Netherlands 8-0 in their previous game.

The Dutch provide the next test for Pete Russell’s side tonight and while GB will go into the match as firm favourites, O’Connor said the outcome was anything but simple.

“It is cliched when we say ‘one game at a time’ but it is so very true,” said O’Connor, who this week signed a new, two-year deal with Sheffield Stelers.

“If you slip up in a game like that then you find that the gold medal is gone.

“We will give the Netherlands the utmost respect and come to play our game and get the job done.”

The Netherlands come into the game looking for their first points of the tournament, having also lost heavily to Japan and Croatia. Before GB hit the ice tonight, Lithuania take on Japan, while Croatia will face-off against an Estonian side also looking for their first win.