Great Britain in straight shoot-out for World Championship survival with Norway

But they need to get the job done inside 60 minutes in order to avoid an immediate relegation back to Division 1A.

Norway’s 4-1 defeat to Austria on Sunday means Pete Russell’s team can retain their spot in the top-tier with a regulation win at Prague Arena on Monday afternoon. Any other result will bring heartache and survival for their Norwegian rivals.

Having come so close in a 4-3 defeat against Denmark on Friday, GB saw their losing start to Group A extended when they went down 4-1 to hosts Czechia 24 hours later.

On what was always going to be a tough night against the hosts in front of a sell-out crowd, GB’s hopes of breaking their duck at the tournament got even harder when they found themselves 2-0 inside five minutes.

Lukas Sedlak fired home on the rebound to put Czechia ahead at 2.18 before Jakub Krejcik doubled the lead with a fierce strike from distance when he buried the puck in the top corner just over two minutes later.

Just 36 seconds of the second period had gone before Sedlak doubled his tally but GB reduced the deficit quickly when Evan Mosey directed the puck home from a precision feed from Liak Kirk in the left circle on the power play at 22.17.

That was how it stayed until just under 10 minutes later when the hosts’ three-goal lead was restored through Ondrej Kase, a scoreline which remained the same until the final buzzer.

Former Sheffield Steelers’ defenceman Ben O’Connor said GB could take encouragement from their performance, despite the team’s wait for their first win of the tournament being extended.

"They came out flying and we were a little flat footed," admitted British defender Ben O'Connor. "They got two quick goals and that really woke us up, but after that I thought we did well.

"They’re a top five nation but we showed we can play with them at times."