Sheffield Steelers aiming to turn up pressure on Elite League title rivals against bottom club Dundee Stars

He now needs them to maintain that level of performance between now and the end of the season.

The 4-0 defeat on home ice to Belfast dealt a huge blow to the Steelers’ chances of landing their first regular season league championship since 2016, but the 4-1 win at Guildford Flames 24 hours later went some small way to repairing some of the damage.

Ahead of tonight’s home game against Dundee Stars at the Utilita Arena, the Steelers need to use their game in hand on the Giants to close the gap. But that would still leave five points between the two teams with them both just having six games remaining.

One of those games, sees the Steelers head to Belfast on Friday, March 24. It means the Steelers are going to need help from elsewhere to achieve their ultimate ambition, coupled with a near-perfect run-in of their own which also brings two games against Cardiff Devils – who they can go above with a victory tonight – and second-placed Guildford.

On paper, Dundee on home ice appears an easy prospect simple mission – bottom of the table and not far from being ruled out of making the play-offs. But as has been shown on a number of times this season in the EIHL, nothing is as straightforward as that.

On his title rivals, Fox said: “They all bring something different to the table, for sure. We haven’t seen Cardiff in a while, they’ve got some new players and it’s always going to be a little bit different.

“Form, for example, is a big thing, too. Before their loss at home to Coventry, I think Belfast had won 11 in a row and they were doing it not by one goal, but they were dominating teams, so you kind of looked at their form and they had been on a great run. Guildford play with so so much pace, so every team is a little bit different.

"Either way, there’s always going to be that added pressure this time of the year.”