Tom Watkins: Telford Tigers are the 'most disliked team'
Tigers coach Tom Watkins will urge his men to revel in the tag of ‘most disliked team’ at this weekend’s play-off finals tournament in Coventry.Telford’s off-ice troubles almost saw them banned from the competition earlier this season, before a late reprieve in February.
The EPL champions face Basingstoke at the Skydome this afternoon (5pm) with the winners due to play either Milton Keynes or Guildford in tomorrow’s final.
Watkins is expecting a hostile atmosphere at the 3,000-seater venue, but he believes his men can rise to the occasion.
He said: “The guys are relishing the fact that we are going to be probably the most disliked team at the play-offs this weekend and that’s a motivation tool for everybody. We know we’re going to come out, we know it will be a hostile atmosphere, and we know we’ll get booed and jeered.
“We know everybody will cheer every time something happens that we don’t like and I think that is where we’ve got to have a strong referee. That is massively important. It is exciting, we want to be able to quiet the crowd down, start really well and if you do that, then you’re doing well.
“We’ll need character guys and guys can’t shrink in the moment. It’s going to be one of those fun, exciting, tense weekends to be involved in hockey.”
Telford’s previous visit to Coventry, in 2015, ended in defeat to Peterborough Phantoms as they crashed out at the semi-final stage.
Watkins added: “I think possibly last time we weren’t prepared for the level of hostility, myself included, and we’re fully expecting the same thing this weekend.”
