After three losses in four games, the wheels have looked a little wobbly on the Belfast Giants bandwagon in recent weeks, but centre Ben Lake insists nobody within the changing room has lost belief in their squad.
The Giants suffered their first pointless weekend when they lost to both the Coventry Blaze and Nottingham Panthers a week ago and are already nine points behind the Cardiff Devils in the Elite League standings, albeit having played three fewer games than the early-season pacesetters.
When allied with the previous weekend, which saw them beaten by the Glasgow Clan and almost throw away a two-goal lead inside the final 43 seconds against the same opposition a day later, it hasn’t been the most assuring run of games from Adam Keefe’s men.
But Lake insists any thoughts of hitting the panic button are very much premature and has backed the squad they already have to turn things around, starting this weekend with an away double-header at Guildford and Coventry.
“Nobody’s panicking in the dressing room. We know those results aren’t acceptable, but we believe in the group we have and it’s just a matter of putting everything together,” says the Great Britain international.
“Maybe we got a little unlucky at times last weekend but nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. You have to put your head down, compete a little harder and bury the chances, pick up guys in front of the net defensively.
“We’re really looking forward to getting back on track this weekend.”
Although the scorelines did not go in their favour, there were plenty of encouraging signs for the Giants, particularly in that they heavily outshot both the Blaze and Panthers.
However, Lake admits they don’t want to be banking on just encouraging displays and knows they have to turn that into results, starting on Saturday night against the Flames (6pm).
“Encouraging that we were on the front foot, and I thought we deserved better, but we didn’t get the wins, so it’s frustrating that we threw both of them away,” admits the 34-year-old.
“We demand more of ourselves. It’s a results business, and we have to get the win at the end of the day.
“Silver linings don’t count for much at the end of the season, nobody cares about them. You have to find a way to get the two points.”