Telford Titans have been hit by the loss of import Karol Jets as they prepare for this weekend’s clash with Trafford Metros in the ENL Division One – while forward Jared Owen has left the club.

Coach David Fielder has, however, started to plug the gaps in his squad with the capture of former Tiger Scott Williams, who will ice for the first time in Manchester on Saturday night.

Import Jets looks likely to miss the next four weeks with a knee injury he suffered in last week’s draw with Blackburn, with Owen having decided not play again this season after a difficult start to the year.

The loss of two such influential players is sure to hit Telford hard over the next few weeks, although the signing of Williams will be a boost for Fielder after an injury-plagued start to the campaign.

He said: “Scott signed this week and trained as well, so he will go straight into the team for Saturday.

“He is a good player who can play on the wing as well as in centre and defence. He can skate, hit and shoot the puck and that is what you need in this league.

“It will be good for him to get some confidence and get some goals.”

Jets’ absence was caused by a controversial challenge in the third period against Blackburn and although he returned to ice at the end of the game, his injury could be a big problem for Telford as they look to chase a play-off spot.

Fielder added: “Karol has not been scoring a lot of goals this season, but he has still been a major part of the team and has worked very hard.

“He got a goal last weekend and we said he needed goal or two to get back into his rhythm. Typically, he then got injured.”

Trafford will present an interesting challenge for Telford, who beat them to the ENL2 title last season.

But they have been hit this season by the loss of some of their squad to

Manchester Phoenix in the English Premier League, so Fielder is expecting to see a much-changed line-up on Saturday night.

He added: “It will be a tough game up there, although they have lost some players to the Phoenix, who dropped down from the Elite League.

“It will be a different team to last season, but it is a game that I put on the list of those we need to win to stay in the play-off positions.”

Telford could once again be missing a number of

players to injury this weekend, including Jim Corfield, Kev Parton, Simon Harrison and possibly Daniel Brittle.

Saturday night’s game in Manchester faces off at 5.15pm.

By JAMES SHAW