Sheffield Steelers v Guildford Flames: Aaron Fox hoping momentum can return quickly after Covid break

The Steelers haven’t played since the 4-1 triumph at Nottingham Panthers on December 27, the team forced to go into shutdown and EIHL Covid protocol after an outbreak within the squad.

This week, players have gradually been returning to practice, an already buoyant mood further heightened when news came through that they would be returning to action earlier than anticipated when it was confirmed a rearranged fixture with Guildford Flames would indeed go ahead at the Utilita Arena tomorrow.

When the Steelers went into shutdown they were top of the standings, by six clear points.

When they return to the ice, they could see themselves usurped at the top of the table by Cardiff Devils, who are now level on points with their South Yorkshire rivals and travel to Manchester Storm tonight.

But the Steelers remain in a good place for their first regular season championship since 2016, as they get back in the game with five matches in hand over their nearest challengers.

And head coach Fox – who said he had almost a full roster back at practice yesterday – is hoping the momentum built up prior to their absence can be maintained.

“We’ve had a pretty good week of practice, to be fair, guys were excited to get back when they did come back,” said Fox.

“We started back with 10 guys and then, 13, 14 and 15 and today, finally, was our first full session with everybody, so we’ve had a good week.

“It’s not a case of being frustrated, really, I think we all knew that it was going to hit us at some point, it is just the nature of the beast at the moment.

“We were just going day by day, focussing on each game at a time there and we got some good results, so it was a little disappointing that when you’re playing well, you need to get shutdown like that.

“Losing that momentum is always the worry when things are rolling the right way and then you get shutdown for 10-12 days like we have been.

“Guildford are playing right now, they play the night before, so there’s positives and negatives to that.”

We’ll be fresh but again they are in game form right now and it has taken the guys a bit to get back to where we were, but it should be a good first game back.”

Steelers have not been shy when suffering with injuries this season, making their position at the top all the more impressive. But Fox is hoping the recent break has enabled some of his players to have overcome some niggles and aches and pains.

“It’s a fine line when guys are sitting in their apartments for eight or nine days at a time without leaving,” he added. “You are definitely going to lose your hockey shape there and we’re going to have to build that back up, which we’ve tried to do this week. ]

“But, yes, there were some guys nursing some injuries that now hopefully are able to come back a litle bit better off than where they were before we were shutdown.”