Tom Watkins: Telford Tigers can turn National Cup final around

Tigers look to claim silverware No.2 of the campaign – and week – in this evening’s NIHL National Cup final second leg against Sheffield Steeldogs, who were beaten 3-2 in Telford in Sunday’s league clash.

Watkins’ men lost the first leg 6-3 earlier this month but are confident despite the disadvantage, having powered three goals beyond Sheffield on Sunday on their way to a 3-2 comeback success.

Watkins said: “You don’t want to be going in behind but we’ve got a really good record of coming from three goals behind in the cup competition. We were three goals behind in the semi-finals against Milton Keynes and we returned to home ice.

“The previous season in the National Cup semi-finals we were three behind Swindon and actually went four behind before we came back to win that and won the cup.

“We’ve got a good track record and seem to play very well when things are against us and when the pressure’s on us.

“When we need to do well we come out with a strong attitude and really positive performance.

“We’re under no illusions it won’t be an easy task. Sheffield are a good team, solid defensively but it’s midweek, guys have been at work and travelled, we have good home advantage, it’s important if we can put a bit of onus on scoring first.

“But that’s not the be-all-and-end-all, we know we can score three goals in a period against Sheffield because we did that the other night, it shows how quickly a game can change.”

Tigers are without regular frontline Jack Hopkins, who is away with Great Britain’s under-18s for the World Championships in Estonia.

“I feel Sheffield missed an opportunity against us in the first semi-final,” Watkins said. “They probably should’ve buried us by a couple more, we didn’t play anywhere near the level we hoped.

“Perhaps they’ve left us in a tie that they should’ve won already. They’re favourites but they’ve left the door open, we’ve got that underdog mentality and know how to win, we know what it takes to win.”

Asked on whether beating tonight’s opponents at Telford Ice Rink on Sunday will play a part, the head coach added: “I think it does to a degree, we were playing for nothing on Sunday night, Sheffield could’ve secured a position.

“There was a lot of edge and niggle to Sunday’s game, probably in the back of minds people had the cup game. From my point of view we picked up a win against the side we face, that’s a confidence boost and the fact we can score three goals in a period.”