DESPITE entering this double-header weekend with Hull Seahawks as NIHL National leaders, head coach Ryan Aldridge feels his Leeds Knights team is still “finding its feet”.

Six wins from eight games is a positive return – the Knights found themselves in the same position last season on their way to a second straight regular season league title – but not everything is clicking the way Aldridge wants it to.

Hull Seahawks looking to close the gap on Leeds Knights - now and in the future

Given they are not firing on all cylinders, it perhaps makes the Knights’ lofty position all the more impressive.

SOLID START: Leeds Knights may not be firing on all cylinders yet, but are still top of the NIHL National standings ahead of this weekend's double-header against second-placed Hull Seahawks. Picture: Knights Media/Jacob Lowe.

Aldridge, who admits he can be a hard taskmaster, believes his team have only really ‘clicked’ properly once this season, when they hammered Milton Keynes Lightning 7-3 on the second day of the season.

But, despite the frustrations on and behind the bench, Aldridge remains confident his players will work it out in the coming weeks.

And he believes the back-to-back games against title hopefuls Hull could be perfect timing.

“We haven’t started how we want to start,” said Aldridge. “Winning the league twice is hard, it’s the same group and at the moment it feels like we are just trying to find our feet.”

TESTING TIMES: Leeds Knights' head coach, Ryan Aldridge. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

As if to back that up, the Knights fell to a surprise 2-1 defeat at Berkshire Bees on Saturday and had two late goals to be thankful for in order to secure a 5-4 win at home to Solway Sharks the following night.

“For me, that was a massive win. We know we’re not ourselves right now but this weekend is a good test for us to become ourselves against a team that is going to be one of the top teams in this league this season - against a team that plays a similar sort of style to us.”

Hull arrive at Elland Road Arena tonight just one point behind Leeds with a game in hand.

The two developed an intense rivalry during 2023-24, Leeds enjoying a 4-2 superiority in the six-game league series, while Hull enjoyed derby bragging rights in the National Cup semi-finals. Aldridge expects the rivalry to develop further this season.

He added: “It’s going to be two good teams going at it, two intense games of hockey.”

Leeds Knights ahead of rivals but still 'finding their feet' in pursuit of third NIHL National crown