JIM PENNYCOOK hopes that team spirit will offset the loss of flying Finn Mika Pynnonen.

The defenceman is sidelined with a groin strain - as is Pennycook - but the coach believes the Hawks spirit is strong enough to give the team a much-needed boost in the National League.

"It's a major blow for us to lose one of our imports, and we need Mike more than ever.

"He is undergoing treatment for the strain, and he will need to rest at the weekend. But it's a problem we have to ride and concentrate on winning the game."

Lancashire Hawks have a tough task on their hands this weekend - twice over.

Hawks have lost two from two in the National Division and will be keen to bounce back with a four point blast this weekend. They entertain Murrayfield at the Arena tonight (face off 6pm) and go to Paisley on Sunday (6.30pm). And they'll be going all out for a leg up the league.

Both opponents are fellow Northern Premier teams, which means that the "three import" rule still applies - unlike the Southern league system that sees Hawks face up to a dozen imports in the National competition.

But Pennycook warns there are still no easy games.

"They are all tough games for us," he says. "We are at the bottom of the scale in terms of resources and we have one of the lowest budgets - we can only go with what strengths we have.

"Both this weekend's games will be close. We've played Murrayfield twice already and both games have been to the wire - they're a lot stronger than they were last season.

"Paisley are a very strong outfit, and they have a good pool of players. Even for their three imports, they're probably stronger than half the teams in the Southern League, and they're getting good results over them."

Hawks are boosted by the return of Simon Mills. The talented youngster, who bagged Hawks' player of the year award last season, has missed the last four weeks with a broken foot, but is hard on the comeback trail and could figure this weekend.

The influential Pennycook is still on the treatment table with a groin strain, and will be confined to the bench once again.

"I've been on the ice on Tuesday and everything seemed fine, but it played up again on Wednesday. It's a case of taking it day to day and not rushing back into action," he said.

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