Leeds Knights: Why Sam Gospel is confident previous NIHL National success will aid latest title push

As it stands, three teams remain in the title picture, with Milton Keynes Lightning leading the pack from second-placed Leeds by one point.

Swindon Wildcats are also well-placed, three points behind the Knights, although having played one game more than the top two.

Milton Keynes have twice been second-best to Leeds in the past two seasons with a handful of games to play and will be hoping they can put some distance between themselves and their Yorkshire rivals during this weekend’s eagerly-anticipated double-header between the two.

And while acknowledging previous success in no way guarantees a repeat this time around, netminder Gospel believes the Knights’ previous experience in getting over the line should serve them well.

“It’s not a guarantee but I think having won before, we’ll be able to handle our emotions a bit better on the run-in,” said Gospel. “We’ve been there before.

“Last year, we were the team chasing [for a lot of the season] anyway. We know what it’s like to be chasing the leaders and it’s nice to be doing the chasing as opposed to being chased.

“We’ll keep pushing and we’ve got a lot of confidence in our group.

"But that target is on our backs as a result of our success – we are still the team that everyone else wants to beat the most.”