Leeds Knights target performance and emotions as NIHL National title run-in intensifies

Leeds go into their penultimate meeting of the regular season against Hull Seahawks on Saturday night two points adrift of leaders Milton Keynes Lightning with seven games remaining.

Aldridge’s team play their game in hand on Friday at Romford Raiders, 24 hours before taking on the Lightning in Buckinghamshire.

In the last two years, the Knights have had the title sewn up with a handful of games to play.

This year, it will likely go down to the final weekend of the campaign, possibly even the last night when Leeds visit Hull, with Milton Keynes having completed their schedule 24 hours earlier at Solway Sharks.

Between now and March 23, Aldridge and his players will do their best to shut out the outside ‘noise’ and simply concentrate on their own performances, making sure they handle the emotions which will ebb and flow throughout.

“We’ve just to try and concentrate on us - that’s all we can do,” said Aldridge.

“For us it is about our performances and how we handle the emotions. You talk about our young team and you look at the two teams, you look at age, experience, Elite League games played - and I’m sure their (Lightning’s) stats are almost double ours in all categories.

“When it is this tight, whatever happens, happens at the end of the day. It is sport and we are both going to try and do our best. Sadly it won’t work out for one of us.”

On the closeness of the title race, Aldridge said it had come as no surprise.

"At the start of the season, I said to Steve (Nell, Knights owner) that whoever wins it this year will win it easier because the whole league has got stronger,” he added.

"We don’t normally drop games to the lower-end teams, but the lower-end teams are much better this year and we’ve dropped points to them.

"So I think that is credit to the league in general and the overall ownership group - I think we’ve got a really good product at the moment and the proof is in the pudding with the title race.”