Stingrays urged to stay true to their aims

The East Yorkshire club are in the mix for the end-of-season Elite League play-offs, but only currently occupy the eighth and final available spot.

Tomorrow night sees the arrival of Edinburgh Capitals to Hull Arena, the Scottish side sitting one place and five points above Hull and having beaten them on each of the three previous meetings between the two this season.

Player-coach Sylvain Cloutier’s team have been missing key players in recent weeks and are one import down following the exit of defenceman Josh Mizerek.

But, while frustrations grow in the dressing room, 31-year-old Campbell insists there is no reason for the team to forget its pre-season aim of breaking into the top half of the table.

“We still need to be ambitious,” said Campbell. “We’ve still got to have that hunger to make it into the top half of the table and build some momentum going into the play-offs.

“It’s only a matter of putting a couple of wins together and the confidence will come back, but we need to make sure we tighten up in the third period because that is where we are losing games.”

Cloutier – whose side went down 5-3 at home to Cardiff Devils on Sunday after conceding three unanswered third period goals – is boosted for tomorrow night with the return of forward Jack Watkins and defenceman Daniel Scott, both away with Great Britain’s Under-20s squad at the World Championships in Germany.

Forward Tristan Harper may also return after being sidelined with a shoulder injury since early November.