Blackburn Hawks will be looking for a repeat performance when they travel to Telford Titans in the English National Ice-Hockey League this weekend.

Hawks thrashed the Titans 13-4 in the English Cup only two weeks ago and assistant coach Gary Buckman will be asking his players for more of the same tomorrow night (face-off 5.30pm).

“Same again will definitely be the message,” said Buckman.

“We played exceptionally well against Telford – as we did against Whitley Bay last weekend – so I will be looking for the same energy, intensity and level of performance from the players.

“There’s no reason why the lads should be in the position that they’re in.

“They are talented enough and capable of being at the top of this league, not at the bottom.”

Telford had a number of key players missing from the cup clash, including netminder Daniel Brittle, so Buckman is not expecting the scoreline to be quite so emphatic.

“I’m certainly not under any expectations that we will beat them 13-4 again,” he added.

“They were five players down when we last met, so it won’t be an easy game and it’s up to me to make the players aware of that.”

Hawks have mixed team news ahead of tomorrow’s tea-time encounter, although Buckman is boosted by the assurance that he won’t be down to the bare bones.

“We had only 11 players available for last Sunday’s game against Whitley, so it will be nice to field three full lines on this occasion,” he said.

“Lance Derbyshire has got a three-match ban and Rick Hughes is also suspended.

“However, Aaron Dadd is available again and Chris Butler is back from his holiday. So we’ll go down there and see what happens.”