Lindum Hockey’s player-coach Matt Bell looks ahead to his team’s return, as they travel to Belper Hockey this weekend.
Lindum return from the winter break top of the table, as the only unbeaten team left in the league. However, Belper have had opposite form, sitting bottom of the table with nine defeats from nine games.
Bell said: “They’ll want to take points of us, we don’t take anything for granted.”
He added: “Traditionally, Belper are a big, big club at this level. They’ve got history. We can’t go there thinking we’re top and they’re bottom, and that it will be a rollover.”
Lindum have won eight games so far this season, drawing the other one. That has left them three points clear at the top of the England Hockey Conference North.
Bell is keen to carry on their rich vein of form against Belper, before three pivotal games in the overall season.
He said: “We want to start off with a good performance and result before those three season defining games.”
After the trip to Derbyshire, Lindum have a week off before Sheffield travel to Lincoln. They’re the only side to have taken points off the ‘Yellow Submarine’ so far this season.
The following week Lindum host second placed Timperley before a tough test under the lights against rivals Doncaster round out the three key fixtures.
Bell is not looking past the Belper game. He said: “You never know what they’ve done over Christmas in terms of recruiting or players returning from injury.”
During the Winter break his squad have kept training.
“The players have had a physical program to follow as well as normal training sessions. We’ve had to be flexible with training because of the weather,” he said.
Lindum face Belper on Sunday, January 21 before their first home game of the new year two weeks later.