JARED Owen has challenged his Blackburn Hawks side to prove why they are flying high in the Moralee Conference heading into 2015.

The Hawks are in the unusual position of sitting seven points clear at the top of the division with the season around a third of the way in.

It is usually Owen’s side who head into a new year trying to make up ground on their rivals, so it will be a different challenge for a team who have won nine and drawn one of their 10 league games so far.

“We have worked hard in the first half of the season to get into this position and we deserve to be where we are,” said Owen.

“We have to work even harder than we were before now, teams are going to want to take points off us and we are there to be shot at now.

“That’s something that this team isn’t used to. We are usually in the position of trying to chase teams like Solway and Billingham down.

“For us to be the prized scalp is something different, but we need to embrace it and we need to show teams why we are at the top of the league.

“It’s good to be in that position and we know the hockey we need to keep playing if we are to be successful.

“These lads are as desperate as anything to win a league title and the character is there to do it, we just have to prove it.”

The Hawks ended the year with a 7-1 defeat in the EPL Cup at Sheffield Steeldogs, and although it wasn’t their finest performance, Owen was happy to get the Christmas rustiness out of the way.

Tomorrow, they face another Sheffield side, the Spartans, at the Blackburn Ice Arena (5.45pm), as they return to league action.

“We played at Sheffield last weekend against an EPL team and didn’t play our best,” said Owen.

“There was a bit of rust and a Christmas hangover but it was probably good to get that out of the way in a competition that we are never going to win. We had a good training session on Monday and the lads seemed to be better for it, so hopefully we can carry that into the weekend.”

The Spartans are fourth of seven in the league but Owen believes they will pose a tough test.

“Sheffield have already beaten Solway and Whitley this season so we have to be ready to play if we want to start the year well,” he said.

The only absentee will be Jake Nurse, who is still recovering from the fractured eye socket he suffered in November.

Owen said: “Jake has not had the all-clear and he is still nowhere near ready to return to the ice. He“His health has to come first, and having spoken to him I think H is making some progress with his eyes, but it’s slow progress.”