Telford Tigers chief is forced to call on his young guns

Watkins' plans were hit by suspensions to Blaho Novak and Max Birbraer at the weekend, alongside injures to a string of key players.

Those absences mean he is likely to hand senior debuts to a number of Telford's NIHL players in a bid to bolster the club's English Premier League ranks.

Watkins said: "I spent the whole morning on Monday checking who is available to add some depth and making sure we've got bodies for tonight's game.

"It will be a different-looking team for sure. Our defence will probably be the same, but our offence will be a bit different and probably younger.

"It's just a natural progression to bring up a young player who shows he has ability. We already do it regularly with Callum Bowley, Adam Taylor and Corey Goodison. We'll add a couple of extra guys to that."

Watkins has, however, ruled out his own return to a playing role over the coming weeks.

"A couple of the lads having been joking about it, but I haven't skated enough recently, and it wouldn't be very smart for me personally.

"It is better to see the younger players get their chance at this level and see some regular ice time."

Telford have an encouraging record over second-placed Peterborough so far this season, with three wins out of five games played.

Two of those victories have come at Bretton Road, but Watkins remains wary of predicting a third straight success in Peterborough.

He added: "We have done well there and we've gone there in the past really focused, on the back of a few defeats. That kept us honest, so we've worked hard in Peterborough.

"It is a tough place to play. They've got good netminding and solid defending, so they're going to be tough to break down.

"We'll just play whoever is in front of us, and knowing their coach Slava, it will be a really organised, disciplined and talented team."

Wednesday night's game in Peterborough starts at 7.45pm.