Sheffield Steeldogs determined to keep up pressure on NIHL National top three

With 17 games remaining ahead of Friday night’s trip to leaders Leeds Knights, the Steeldogs sit 11 points adrift of their Yorkshire rivals and 10 points behind the two teams locked together and pushing them hard for the title, Milton Keynes Lightning and Peterborough Phantoms.

And while there is every chance that one of the top three might suffer a blowout on the run-in over the next two months, there is little chance all three will.

Hewitt, who returned to the fray three weeks ago after almost four months out injured on the sidelines, says that while there remains a chance of a top-three finish, he and his team-mates will keep up the pressure on those above them.

“You’ve got to be realistic,” said Hewitt. “Although mathematically it’s not impossible (to win the title), it would be a tough ask for us to do anything in the league.

“You would need all three of them to lose six, seven or eight games between now and the end of the season and that’s just not going to happen."

MORE – Leeds Knights faced with hectic schedule as NIHL National title battle hots up with Sheffield Steeldogs derby showdown

The latest derby clash is the first of four games in five days for the Steeldogs, with a final clash of the regular season against Leeds at Ice Sheffield on Tuesday.

In between, head coach Greg Wood’s team host Raiders IHC before hitting the road again to take on Telford Tigers on Sunday.

And while it will be no doubt tough on the bodies, Hewitt sees the next few days as an opportunity to turn up the pressure on the three teams above them, hoping that at least one of them cracks in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got four games coming up in five nights and if we win all four, two of them against Leeds, then it changes things dramatically,” said Hewitt. “We’ve got a lot of pride in this team, so it’s not like we’re folding it in and just waiting for the play-offs.

“It’s a tough weekend coming up, sure, but we certainly don’t rule out getting into that top three.”

So far this season, the Knights have had the measure of the Steeldogs, winning all four league meetings as well both legs of the NIHL National Cup semi-final last month.

And while that match-up makes for grim viewing for those of a South Yorkshire persuasion, Hewitt says most encounters between the two have been close, hard-fought affairs, something Leeds head coach Ryan Aldridge concurs with.

Hewitt says this season’s head-to-head record counts for nothing ahead of the final two meetings of the regular season between the two.

"I think all but one of the games against them has been close,” added the former GB international. “There was only one where we’ve really walked away disappointed with our performance rather than just the result.

"You just can’t afford to make too many mistakes and that is what has cost us in the end. We’ve had quite a few one-goal, two-goal games with them and it’s been just a bad turnover or a bad pinch and that’s the game gone.

Like the semi-final leg at their place – we got ourselves back in it and we just had two sleepy moments and it was kind of game over at the end of that first period.

"We’re still confident going there, as we are any game, it is just about making sure we limit our mistakes because they will punish you.”