Sheffield Steelers' ability to stay on front foot fuels Sam Jones' belief

But that’s exactly what happened, the 26-year-old defenceman returning to the fray two weeks ago for the trip to Kirkcaldy against former club, Fife Flyers.

The Steelers went into the game boasting a 13-game unbeaten run in the Elite League and, although dominating for large parts, headed home on the back of a frustrating 2-1 defeat.

It was not how Jones had envisaged his return, having watched his team-mates beat all before them to establish a commanding lead at the top of the regular season standings.

But while there will have been intense frustration at the outcome against his former team, what has happened since has convinced the GB international it was a mere blip.

Speaking ahead of Friday night’s visit to Glasgow Clan, Jones said: “When there’s something like that and you’re on a particularly good run and then your first game back, not only do you lose, but you lose on the road against your former team – I was pretty down about it for a bit, to be honest.

“The home crowd was definitely giving it to me after that game. But we quickly bounced back against them on the Sunday.

“The fact we’ve won every game since losing at Fife, means there is a realisation that it was just an off night - it was going to happen eventually.”

Jones believes the rare setback has only served to galvanise the Steelers roster to try and ensure they don’t experience the bitter taste of defeat too many more times this season.

The 6-4 win at home to Fife the day after their defeat north of the border has merely proved to be the start of another unbeaten run, one stretched to six with their two-leg destruction of Coventry Blaze in the Challenge Cup semi-final with league wins over Nottingham Panthers and Dundee Stars sandwiched in between, with a 5-2 win at Glasgow Clan following on Friday night.

“That's one thing that is special about this group,” added Fox. “We have a situation where nobody is getting complacent and where we are going into every game as though we’re going to win.

“We come out and play the right way every night and if we can keep that sort of mindset going and retain that mental toughness, we’ll come out better more times than not.”

The Steelers have a chance to extend their latest unbeaten run to seven games on Saturday night at home to the Clan (face-off 7pm).

Brandon Whistle gave his aim of representing Great Britain at the forthcoming Olympic Qualifiers a major boost when he returned to the fray in Glasgow.

Mitchell Balmas got the ball rolling at 8.36 before the hosts levelled through Gary Haden’s strike from a rebound of Matt Greenfield three minutes later.

A cracking finish from Marc-Olivier Vallerand in the 18th minute ensured the Steelers went in ahead at the interval, however, although Luke Lynch hauled the hosts level for a second time just after the halfway mark.

Patrick Watling won a foot race to make it 3-2 before the second intermission but it wasn’t until Mark Simpson broke clear in the 47th minute to slot the puck home for a shorthanded strike that the Steelers were able to put some welcome distance between themselves and their hosts, Mikko Juusola making sure of the points when he fired into the empty near with 88 seconds remaining.