Sheffield Steelers v Edinburgh Capitals - Confidence high as Steelers look to haul in title rivals

In all, the Steelers played eight games in 17 gruelling days, their most notable setbacks coming in the shape of two defeats in the Christmas double-header against Nottingham Panthers.

A point was also dropped on Saturday night in an overtime defeat at second-placed Belfast Giants, but a 4-1 victory against the same opponents the following night made it a positive weekend overall for head coach Paul Thompson’s side.

The Steelers have games in hand on both Belfast and leaders Cardiff Devils and use one of them up on Wednesday night against Edinburgh Capitals at Ice Sheffield.

And Steelers captain Phillips believes that having just turned the halfway point of the Elite League campaign, the Steelers are well-positioned for a tilt at landing a third straight title.

“We are coming to the business end of the season,” said Phillips. “We’re just over halfway through but we’ve come out of the Christmas and New Year period a confident bunch.

“We can’t worry too much about how many games in hand we have or how many points we’re behind Cardiff and Belfast as it can be a distraction.

“All we can do is focus on the team that is up next against us, deal with that challenge and then move on to the next one.”

Edinburgh arrive in Sheffield on the back of a 6-0 defeat to Dundee Stars on Sunday night, their eighth defeat in nine games. Their sole victory during that time coming the previous evening against the same opponents, who sit alongside each other outside the play-off places.

But Phillips insisted there was no chance of the Steelers taking Wednesday night’s visitors lightly.

“They have always been a team - particularly last season - who will take any chance you give them and that is no different this season,” he said.

It will be the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams, with the Steelers enjoying the upper-hand so far, particularly in the Challenge Cup quarter-final tie back in November which saw the South Yorkshire club romp to a 7-1 victory in the second leg at Ice Sheffield having drawn the first leg 2-2 at Murrayfield.

The only league meeting between the two so far this season saw the Steelers win 6-5 after a shoot-out in Scotland on Bonfire Night.