INCONSISTENT Lancashire Hawks face a curious but testing ice hockey combo this weekend - familiar opponents at the Arena and a trip into the unknown.

After an Arena date with Murrayfield tonight, Hawks fly off to tackle Peterborough tomorrow hoping to pull off a surprise strike in the demanding National League.

Manager Mike Cockayne isn't phased by the prospect. He's positively upbeat.

"Peterborough are going well and it'll be a tough game - make no mistake about that. They're a Southern League side and we'll be up against seven or eight imports," he says.

"But they seem to have been blowing a bit hot and cold of late, and that's something we can seize upon.

"Although they have the home advantage, they're playing on the back of two straight defeats against Telford last week.

"We need to give the sort of performance that we gave last month when we narrowly lost out 5-4 to Telford in the National competition."

Hawks have been experimenting with tactics, and will be hoping they can turn round their fortunes in the national league with a more direct and up front attacking style. "We dabbled with the system a little last Sunday by playing three lines of forwards instead of two, and playing a much more attacking game. It worked quite well on Sunday, and we'll be looking to do it again this week.

"The main difference is that it means the players' shifts are shorter, and we can spread the play out a bit more. Hopefully it will give us the advantage."

Hawks face Murrayfield Royals tonight (6pm). The two teams have already met four times this season, and Hawks have yet to lose a single game.

"We have been very consistent against the Royals this term, and we must win tonight - especially in front f our home crowd. It is essential that we come away with two points from the match ready for the testing trip to Peterborough."

Mr Cockayne is sweating over the fitness of several squad members - Craig Sharman, who broke his wrist last month will definitely not figure, and Tim Dempsey is doubtful after injuring his shoulder last week.

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