B0BBY Haig admits his championship-cashing Blackburn Hawks face their biggest test of the season tonight - but he refuses to worry.

Hawks tackle Invicta in Gillingham (face off 5.15pm) desperate to put their recent troubles behind them and stay clear of the pack in the English Premier League.

Player/coach Haig will again lead from the front even though his squad is missing no less than eight of the players who made the trip in November. Hawks slashed five players from the squad in a cost-cutting move a fortnight ago, and Haig has a further three players missing in action.

Young forwards Matt Jones and Billy Price both serve one match suspensions and Hawks are also without versatile defenceman Jimmy Pennycook with a back injury.

The veteran Hawks player, who stepped down as player/coach last season, will be out for at least two weeks, but Haig is boosted in that his strike force will be back up to full strength for Hawks' home date against Swindon on Sunday (6pm).

But even with the odds stacked against them, Haig is determined Hawks won't be punished - and reckons that his under-pressure outfit will not only win the battle, but can still win the war. "We lost 7-5 the last time we were there back in November, and missing three of our players won't make things any easier," said Haig, who refused to comment on recent management decisions. "It's a small rink and that always makes it tough, but in myself I have every confidence that we will come away with the points.

"Swindon at the Arena will be a much tougher propostion for us - even with Matt and Billy back in the side - and much harder to beat than when last we played them. They've picked up three new guys over Christmas and they've gone from strength to strength.

"Last weekend they beat Wightlionk 6-3 at their place, which is a pretty fair indication of how far they've come.

"But we still have a team more than capable of winning the league, and we'll be concentrating on the task in hand - namely winning the next game. That's what we've done all season, and that's what we'll continue to do."

Swindon are currently next to bottom in the EPL and don't look much of a threat to the table topping Hawks. But with just under half the season still to play, Hawks need to keep soaring to win outright.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.