ANDREW Dickson's loyalty to the Blackburn Hawks cause is no longer in question - and the Canadian will prove it tonight by playing through the pain barrier in his quest to smash through the 100 points milestone.
Dickson, who did a bunk to Germany earlier in the season, has underlined his commitment by agreeing to face Oxford at the Arena tonight (face off 6pm) while still feeling the effects of a flu virus.
And the star striker has already pledged that he will also made the long trek to face Romford tomorrow in the second of two crucial games as Hawks try to get their English Premier League title challenge back on track.
Dickson's determination is not lost on his player-coach Bobby Haig: "Andrew isn't 100 per cent - he knows it and we know it, but he appreciates how important it is for us to have him out there on the ice right now.
"We don't have strength in depth and his absence would be a major major blow. His attitude has delighted me."
Dickson currently stands third in the national goalscoring chart with 92 points. Hawks are also boosted by good news over another forward, Matt Jones. The youngster has missed the last three weeks with a knee injury and underwent a scan this week to check for suspected cruciate damage.
"Matt won't be fit this weekend, but we're relieved not to have lost him to a cruciate knee injury. A cruciate problem would have kept him out until the summer, which would have been a massive blow."
Haig is still upbeat about third placed Hawks' last-gasp league push, and on paper the odds are stacked well in his favour this weekend.
The Blackburn outfit have yet to lose against either team in the league this season and have bagged four times as many goals as Oxford, the aggregate standing at 39-10.
Dickson and Co could have a field day against Oxvord, who have lost every game and concede goals at the rate of 12.9 per game!
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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