GB go down twice to Lithuania but coach Russell takes plenty of positives

WARMING UP: GB goaltender Jackson Whistle battles for the puck in front of his net against Lithuania in Coventry on Sunday night. Picture: Tony Sargent/TeamGB

FOUR Sheffield Steelers players were healthy scratches for Great Britain as they went down 7-2 to Lithuania in their final warm-up game for next week's World Championships in Hungary.

The loss at Coventry's SkyDome Arena came on the back of a 3-2 defeat to the same opponents the previous evening in Milton Keynes.

Head coach Pete Russell will now reduce his 28-man roster to 23 ahead of his side's trip to Budapest, which will see GB playing at the higher Division 1A level after last year's memorable gold medal promotion in Belfast.

After featuring on Saturday, Steelers' Robert Dowd, Ben O'Connor, Jonathan Phillips and Liam Kirk were spectators last night, with team-mate Davey Phillips seeing ice time in both games, being made captain for the second encounter.

Rotherham-born first-choice netminder Ben Bowns, who last weekend helped Cardiff Devils beat the Steelers to add the Elite League play-off title to their second successive league championship, also sat out last night.

"I was disappointed with the result but it was good to get some of the young players out there," said Russell, recently named as the new head coach of the Braehead Clan. "These games are about seeing the squad in a match situation and I was able to do that.

"There are many positives to take out of the weekend - this is just one part of our training camp."