GM Telford Tigers coach Claude Dumas has accepted the end of season English Premier League play-offs are unlikely to feature the Shropshire lads.

The Shropshire lads are set to miss out on the top eight after going down 5-3 in a close game at home to Guildford Flames on Saturday before taking a 7-0 beating at Milton Keynes.

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Dumas said: “We are trying hard but it is getting pretty much to the end. We will keep on playing but realistically it looks pretty much over now. We needed to win against Guildford to have a chance for the last play-off slot.”

Tigers opened the weekend in style, matching high-flyers Guildford in the first period. With Alex Symonds injured, Gareth Owen dropped back into defence, and Ashley Calvert stepped up to join Marek Hornak and Dumas on the second line.

Youngsters Owen Bennett and Bryn Roberts added extra bodies to Dumas’ ranks.

The Flames took a flukey first goal as the puck sailed high into the air and over Davey Lawrence’s shoulder, but Telford equalised through Marek Hornak who roofed a breakaway shot on a delayed penalty at 16:08, assisted by Ashley Calvert and Sam Zajac.

Guildford drove the net to restore their lead, but Tom Carlon kept the score level going into the break when he flicked the puck backwards into the net, from an Ashley Stanton shot at 19:47.

Tigers continued to match the efforts of Flames, but the visitors took a two-goal lead through a powerplay goal and a well-worked shot.

Within the first minute of the final session, Guildford stretched their lead further with another powerplay goal.

Although Hornak added a third goal for Tigers, getting on the end of an inch-perfect pass from Calvert at 43:31, Telford were unable to claw back the other two goals, with the game finishing 5-3.

While the team put in a great performance against Guildford, Sunday was a different story at Milton Keynes, as they fell 7-0 to the English Premier League title hopefuls.

Afterwards Dumas said: “We made a lot of mistakes in our zone and they took a three-goal lead. We never really recovered from that.

“We never got going tonight and we were outplayed. These are hard games. When you don’t score, you don’t get any momentum going. They gave up very few chances.

“We brought Daniel Heslop into goal after their fifth goal, and he played very well for the remainder of the game. He had a very good third period and kept a clean sheet, but we had very few chances to score.

“We are going to keep playing and hopefully we will still get some points. Even if we don’t make the play-offs now, with only two weeks to go, we want to finish with our heads held high.”

BY CAROLINE GARBETT