Paisley Pirates coach Ian Turley reflected on a potentially difficult trip to Elgin at the weekend before turning his thoughts to a massive double header, which sees the club head to Aberdeen on Saturday for the first leg of their Scottish Cup Quarter Final tie, before making the long trip home in time to take on the in-form Dundee Comets on vital Scottish National League business only 24 hours later.
“I thought that it was important that we kept our discipline on Saturday at Elgin,” he commented. “We’re not used to the small ice there and it becomes doubly difficult if you’re taking penalties into the bargain, so I was pleased with the way the guys responded to some of the situations they faced. We were minus a couple of players through injury and work commitments so I thought those who were there did very well to come away with a big win at a venue which hasn’t been our favourite in the last couple of years.”
Turning his attention to this weekend’s fixtures, he highlighted the importance of both fixtures for different reasons. “On Saturday, we’re going to Aberdeen to play the Lynx in front of a sell-out capacity crowd and that will justifiably give them confidence of taking a good lead with them to Braehead the following weekend. For our part, we’re not going there just to make up the numbers, we’re preparing as we always do and going there with the motto that winning is the only option. Both games against Aberdeen have been squeaky tight this season, with only a goal between us over two league games, so it’s likely to be another close run affair, I think.”
“The following night, we’ve got another tough looking match against the Dundee Comets at Braehead Arena (face off 6.00pm), after making the return trip from Aberdeen. They’ve really hit form in recent weeks, they’ve strengthened their side since we played them at their place back in September and they’ve got a goal scorer in John Dolan who has shown he can cut it at Elite League level, which makes them very dangerous indeed, not forgetting, of course, that they’ve plenty of other guys who are a handful as well.”
“For our part, we owe our fans a performance after the disappointment of losing to Edinburgh in front of them two weeks ago, so I’ll be reminding the players this week that we’ve a debt to repay to them. Only the highest level of performance and commitment on both nights will get us through the weekend still in the running for the competitions we’re still involved in, so I’ll be looking for nothing less than 100% in training this week players who are willing to do whatever it takes through the games at the weekend!”