Telford Tigers star Andy McKinney was in the wars when he clashed with Guildford Flames player Neil Liddiard on Sunday night.

Video also includes post-match interviews with McKinney, Tigers player-coach Tom Watkins and Guidlford boss Paul Dixon.

Telford Tigers look certain to spend the coming week focusing on their defensive duties after they conceded 15 goals in just two games against Swindon Wildcats and Guildford Flames.

Saturday night saw the Tigers lose 8-1 in Swindon as they recorded a fourth successive loss to the Wildcats, before a disappointing 7-1 defeat to Guildford Flames on Sunday.

The loss to Guildford will have been especially hard for Telford fans to swallow, following their 4-1 success in Surrey just a week before.

Player-coach Tom Watkins believes his side suffered from a lengthy Flames powerplay during the second period on Sunday night, just minutes after Andrew McKinney had reduced the deficit to 2-1.

He said: “It is tiring when you get a five-minute powerplay and it does take the wind out of your sails a little bit.

“You can’t blame the guys’ heads going down, but they kept on working hard and the spirit was still there.

Never happy

“We need to be tighter defensively. All the good teams I have played on have been tight, so when you give away seven or eight, you are never happy.”

Marek Hornak was the scorer for Telford on Saturday night, with McKinney impressing in his ‘enforcer’ role, as he fought Guildford’s Neil Liddiard during the first period on Sunday,

The weekend’s results mean Telford have dropped to eighth in the English Premier League standings, although Watkins was happy with his side’s battling qualities.

He added: “It was very disappointing at Swindon and against Guildford we went into the game and gave away two pretty quick goals.

“But we battled hard and I really like the attitude of Andy McKinney, who is playing his best hockey since arriving in Telford. A couple of others really stepped during the first and second periods.”

Telford now have a week of hard work in training ahead of them as they look to prepare for games against Milton Keynes Lightning and Manchester Phoenix.

By James Shaw