LANCASHIRE Hawks have two of the most feared forwards in the land - and a run of seven straight defeats.

Any wonder the management are confused?

Hawks will look to the nation's leading ice hockey pointscorer Adrian Lomonaco to drive them out of an alarming slump this weekend.

Canadian Lomonaco has more points (23) and goals (17) than anyone this season but his efforts haven't helped team results.

Remarkably, Hawks other Canadian import Jeff Daniels stands fifth in the points chart with the highest number of "assists." So what's wrong?

"We just haven't managed to put our game together over a long enough period and inconsistency has cost us already," says manager Mike Cockayne.

"There have been some encouraging individual efforts and we have played well in patches, looking very good at times to be fair. But then there has been a real lull and teams have seized the initiative and punished us."

Tom Burridge will be missing from the squad this weekend for the home date with Fife Flyers tonight (face-off 6.30pm) and Sunday's trip to Murrayfield. The young forward has jetted out to the States for a trial with Colorado and he may have played his last game for Lancashire.

Experienced defenceman Neil Abel will still be missing with a broken bone in his foot while Craig Sharman also remains an injury absentee.

Both this weekend's matches are in the Northern League and Hawks are confident of stopping the rot.

"We can't treat any game as straightforward and we will need to pull together to get ourselves going again.

"But the spirit remains strong and the desire is still there. We all want to do well and give our fans something to cheer."

Hawks come face to face with former skipper John Haig tonight.

By his own high standards Haig has had a fairly quiet season so far, but the chance of putting one over his old mates always seems to bring out the best in him.

Fife have been inconsistent themselves and were involved in two close contests with Hawks in the Autumn Trophy.

Murrayfield, bottom of the National League, pulled off a major shock by winning at the Arena two weeks ago.

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