Telford Tigers assistant coach Greg Blais has called for backing from the club’s fans after a dismal weekend that saw them lose to Peterborough Phantoms and Swindon Wildcats.

A 5-3 defeat to Peterborough on Saturday was followed by a 8-2 drubbing at the hands of Swindon just 24 hours later as the Tigers fell further behind at the bottom of the English Premier League.

Both of those games were, however, played out by a makeshift Tigers squad, with head coach Tom Watkins and a number of other local players away on GB under-20s duty.

Blais believes fans were entitled to voice their opinions after both games – but has called on them to remain behind the team in coming weeks.

He said: “I can understand why some fans were unhappy, because they paid money to watch the team and they want them to win. To see a visiting team come with a short squad they would expect us to win, and to come out like we did against Peterborough, then I yes, I would be upset.

“But I think the crowd should be with us, through the hard and good times. Hockey is up and down a lot of the time, and it is time to re-group.”

Goals from Marek Hornak, Tomas Janak and Jamie Newton gave Telford a 3-2 lead at the start of the third period on Saturday night, with Peterborough seemingly struggling with just ten skaters.

But a nightmare final 20 minutes saw the Phantoms regain the momentum with three unanswered goals to claim victory.

Blais said: “After the Peterborough game we were in shock, because it was a winnable game and we blew it.

“We got outworked by Peterborough and they wanted it more. They were first to the puck and we just gave it to them.”

Sunday’s match began in dramatic fashion, with Swindon racing into a three-goal lead after just three minutes, although a Joe Henry strike pegged the visitors to a 6-1 cushion at the end of the first period.

Juraj Senko was the other scorer for Telford as Swindon emerged 8-2 winners.

“I don’t want to put up excuses like a lack of roster,” Blais added. “Tom and I put together a good roster for both games and the guys who came in did a good job. One of them got a goal and I couldn’t ask much more from them.”

Telford are preparing for a trip to Guildford Flames on Boxing Day and return fixture in Peterborough just 24 hours later.