MATTY DAVIES has fired a warning shot across the bows of Hull Seahawks’ NIHL National rivals by insisting his team should not be ruled out of the race for the league title.

Two successive four-point weekends have seen the Seahawks firmly establish themselves in fourth place.

With 22 games remaining on the schedule, they currently sit 13 points off leaders Milton Keynes Lightning with a game in hand.

Swindon Wildcats moved up to second at the weekend with a four-point haul of their own to move within four points of the Lightning and above defending champions Leeds Knights, who suffered rare back-to-back defeats.

One of those defeats came at the hands of the Seahawks at Elland Road on Saturday, with their 4-2 reverse on the road at Berkshire Bees the following night allowing Hull to close the gap on them to eight points, having played a game more. Davies’s team sealed their latest maximum return with a 7-4 win at home to Telford Tigers.

It remains a long shot for the Seahawks to overhaul all three teams given where they currently stand, but their position could improve significantly after the coming weekend when they face-off against both Milton Keynes and Swindon.

Seahawks’ head coach Davies is adamant his team still have plenty to play for.

“It’s definitely not just a two-horse or a three-horse race,” he said. “Just wait and see at the end, we’ll be there.

WINNING RUN: Hull Seahawks' Bobby Chamberlain (#21) scores past Telford Tigers' goalie Brad Day during his team's 7-4 home win on Sunday. Picture: Adam Everitt

placeholder image — WINNING RUN: Hull Seahawks' Bobby Chamberlain (#21) scores past Telford Tigers' goalie Brad Day during his team's 7-4 home win on Sunday. Picture: Adam Everitt

“This team has been put together to last and for the duration of the season and to be a team that, at the end of the year, will come good.

“There’s too much experience in there and everyone is buying in right now. Just wait and see at the end. I might be wrong, but we’ll see.”

Davies acknowledged this week’s games against the top two – the first being a trip to Milton Keynes before hosting the Wildcats on Sunday – were massive in relation to making his team a title contender.

The disappointment of not making the final four of the National Cup before Christmas has only spurred Davies and his players on even more.

CONFIDENT: Hull Seahawks' head coach, Matty Davies. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.

They have three games remaining against Milton Keynes, while there are two more encounters to come against both Swindon and Leeds. They are yet to beat either Milton Keynes or Swindon this season.

“This weekend (against MK and Swindon) is big. We owe them (Milton Keynes) a performance. It’s a tough place to go and they are a very good team at home - but I think we’ve got what it takes to beat them.

“The league is not done, not for anybody. It is close in there and all the teams will keep fighting.

“For me it is just about each game. We go into Saturday now and we’ll go there to do our best to go and beat them and then we’ve just got to keep going, try to keep winning.”

Davies said he expects key defenceman Dave Phillips to be back in the fray for the weekend after he sat out the win over Telford as a “precaution”.

"He’s had a couple of weeks now where he’s been touch and go for us,” said Davies. “So i wasn’t worth the risk and we’ve got a lot of D-men and we can spread it out.”