Blackburn Hawks assistant manager Graham Lomax is calling for his players to stand up and be counted as they head into their final two English National Ice Hockey League games of the season.

After an unexpected defeat to Nottingham Lions last weekend, Hawks may need to win both their remaining games if they are to secure the league title for the first time in their history.

Coincidently, tomorrow's opposition is also provided by Nottingham, this time at home (face-off 6pm) and Hawks will out for revenge.

"It was very disappointing to lose to Nottingham last weekend," admitted Lomax. "They put a dent in our title surge and it will be fitting revenge if we can snatch a win in the return.

"We need everyone to really pull together now and perform to the top of their game for the next two fixtures. It is so important to us. We have never won a league title before, so it would mean a lot to the club andthe fans if we could give one last push and grab the prize.

"We have no game tonight so the lads should be fresh for tomorrow. If everyone performs and we click, we should have no problem taking maximum points. Every team has found it hard to come to the Arena so far and Nottingham should be no different."

The clash with Nottingham is a game in hand for Hawks who have only played 12 games in comparison with the 13 played by league leaders Billingham, who host Hawks on what could be a nail-biting last day of the season.

"We always felt it was going to come down to the last day against Billingham," said Lomax. "Even if we had won last week, the title would have still depended on the last two games. It's a nervous time, but we have to show we have the bottle to come through on top."