SLAVA KOULIKOV is looking for a positive and swift response from his Sheffield Steeldogs players when they head to rock-bottom Bristol Pitbulls on Saturday night.

The Steeldogs dropped to seventh in the NIHL National standings as a result of Thursday night’s 4-1 derby loss at Leeds Knights, who extended their winning streak to four games ahead of Friday night’s trip to Solway.

The recent resurgence of Leeds, following their worst-ever start to a league campaign, is something Koulikov would like to emulate, given his own team’s difficulty in stringing positive results together.

Six weeks in and the Steeldogs have enjoyed just the one four-point weekend, part of their best winning sequence of three games.

It is a source of frustration for their head coach, who last season steered them to National Cup success and a fourth-place regular season finish.

Koulikov is keen to close the four-point gap that now exists between his team and fourth-placed Swindon Wildcats.

“I think every coach would say that, when you lose a game, you want the chance to correct it straight away,” said Koulikov.

“So there’s a lot of work for me (on Friday) personally, from the point of hockey and videos and players need to switch off as they’ve obviously they’ve got their own work schedule and families and a long trip to Bristol, kind of.

UNDER PRESSURE: Sheffield Steeldogs' defence comes under pressure during the 4-1 defeat at Leeds Knights on Thursday. Picture: Charlotte Clarke/Knights Media.

placeholder image — UNDER PRESSURE: Sheffield Steeldogs' defence comes under pressure during the 4-1 defeat at Leeds Knights on Thursday. Picture: Charlotte Clarke/Knights Media.

“I think right now, every game is a must-win game because when you're in the mid-pack, you win two, you go places - but if you lose one or two, all of a sudden you're looking behind you. “At the moment, every point is very valuable, so we have to respond quickly.

“We're 13 or so games in and we’re kind of a 50 per cent team. In six weeks, we’ve had one four-point weekend and so we need to find a way to put two, three, four wins together.”

Koulikov admitted Leeds were deserving of their win at Elland on Thursday, but felt his team were hard done to by a third period penalty called on Nathan Ripley which resulted in Leeds’ fourth goal, when he felt there should have been a goalie interference blown for just before.

“It's about understanding that you cannot challenge the goalie. Anything in the blue paint should be a penalty, it doesn't matter how hard or soft it is. It should have been at least even, or us on the power play.

“Then they get a goal and it's 4-1 and obviously they trap the game out really well and we had absolutely nothing after that.”

Sheffield close their three-in-four spell out with a visit from Milton Keynes Lightning on Sunday, looking to avenge a 7-3 defeat in Buckinghamshire earlier this month, in what was a 3-2 game after 40 minutes.

“On paper, Milton Keynes are the best team in the league by far - with a lot of experience in higher leagues,” added Koulikov.

“We were obviously not happy with the result (in MK) and we know it's going to be another tough test.”