Stingrays look to pose threat for Steelers

Hull snapped a six-game losing streak in a 5-4 home win over the Braehead Clan last week before demolishing defending league champions and 'parent' club Coventry Blaze 5-1 in the Challenge Cup on Sunday.

Two previous games between Steelers and Hull – both in the Hcallenge Cup – have ended in 6-3 triumphs for Simon's team but, in tonight's first league clash between the two, the Steelers boss – who has a doubt over forward Derek Campbell (groin) – knows his players will be in for a testing time as they look to close the gap on Belfast Giants and Nottingham Panthers.

"Hull are a much better team than their record suggests," said Simon.

"We've beaten them twice but they were not three-goal games. At their place recently they didn't have three full lines and that can really hurt you.

"We are definitely not going to underestimate them."

Simon added he was pleased with the performance of returning defenceman Mark Thomas during Saturday's 5-2 come-from-behind win at Braehead. The 27-year-old blue-liner was out for six weeks after his foot was broken during training by a stray puck.

"It was great to have Mark back," added Simon.

"He played well and got a lot of minutes under his belt. He played simple and he played hard and I think our other 'D' were pleased to have him back."

Hull player-coach Sylvain Cloutier – who will have forwards Lee Mitchell and Ryan Lake back in his line-up – is keen to make up ground on the teams above them and bridge the gap between the top five and bottom five.

A surprise 7-5 victory for the Edinburgh Capitals over Coventry on Tuesday night saw the Scottish side draw level on seven points with Hull, who trail sixth-placed Braehead by eight points but have four games in hand, making Wednesday's trip to South Yorkshire even more important.

"It's a massive game for us," admitted Cloutier. "It was great to win at Coventry on Sunday but we need to start picking up points on a regular basis in the league.

"Everybody talks about there being two leagues within this league. Well we want to start climbing towards the top half and we need to start putting some distance between ourselves and the teams below us.

"It's always tough against Sheffield - there are no obvious weaknesses. But the last time we played them at our place we didn't have three full lines rolling, but I was encouraged that we were still tied with them after two periods.

"We've never been far away from any of the teams we've played I feel. We've got the three lines I want rolling now and that will be crucial."