Watkins has spent the summer rebuilding the Tigers line-up

Telford Tigers player-coach Tom Watkins says they will improve after a double defeat on their return to action.

The opening English Premier League weekend brought 5-3 and 6-0 losses to Swindon and Basingstoke.

"We're a young team still learning, and I'm sure the more we play together the better we'll be," player-coach Watkins told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy, but we've got to get ourselves up and it will all come together."

The Tigers took a 3-0 lead against Swindon - their first game as a supporters trust-led club following a year out of the sport.

Latvian Andrejs Maslovskis scored twice, with Ashley Stanton making it 3-0 going into the third session.

But Wildcats altered their lines for the final period and hit back to equalise, before rubbing salt into Tigers' wounds to wrap it up with two late goals.

Worse was to come with the home game against an experienced Basingstoke Bison side, who dropped down to the EPL at the end of last season.

Two goals in the first ten minutes knocked Tigers' confidence as they slumped to a 6-0 defeat.

"We started well, but one goal and we lost our heads and started to panic," said Watkins after the Basingstoke game.

"I think everybody is just trying to do a little too much and we need to get some poise on the puck."

On Saturday Tigers travel to Slough Jets, with Sheffield Steeldogs visiting Telford Ice Rink on Sunday (1730 GMT).

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version