Sheffield Steelers looking to get jump-start on their Elite League title rivals

With leaders Cardiff Devils in Continental Cup Final action all weekend the Steelers will hope to use the two games in hand on their South Wales rivals to good effect.

The fact one of those games is against second-placed Belfast Giants just adds further motivation for Steelers’ head coach Aaron Fox and his Steelers.

Not that they should need it, heading into tonight’s encounter at Glasgow Clan bouncing along quite nicely on the back of a seven-game winning streak.

There should be no shortage of confidence ahead of the concluding part of their weekend in Northern Ireland, given memories of their 5-3 win over the Giants just two weeks ago at the same venue are still fresh in the mind.

But Fox is only concerned with getting the better of a seventh-placed Clan outfit that, although looking nervously over their shoulders in the chase for a play-off spot, have already some notable scalps on their belt this season, including his own team in Sheffield just before Christmas.

“We’ve got those two games in hand, (on Cardiff) so we’re looking at those coming in to play this weekend,” said Fox, who welcomes back Cole Shudra, MArc-Olivier Vallerand and Brandon Whistle from injury.

“We’re hoping to close the gap and we know we have Belfast, who don’t play on Friday, so they’ll be rested and waiting for us which was the same situation as when we last went in there.

“But we know we need to just focus on trying to get the job done against Glasgow and then move on to what we know is an important game the following night.”

On a Clan team who have beaten Belfast twice this season, Fox added: “They got off to a tough start, but if you look at their results the last 20 or so games, they are in the top half of the league right now.

“They’ve beaten some really good teams, us included and they’ve got a good top six who can compete with anyone in our league and then have some real good role players and get good goaltending every night.”

Fox says he expects to make a gameday decision on captain Robert Dowd - absent since the last visit to Belfast on January 3. Defenceman Veeti Vainio is out injured.