Edinburgh Capitals aim to end run of defeats at Nottingham on Tuesday

Michal Dobron takes his bruised and battered squad to Nottingham Panthers on Tuesday (face-off 4pm) seeking a win to snap a confidence-sapping run of defeats writes Nigel Duncan.

The Elite League’s bottom club have 17 points from 25 games and are struggling to keep in touch with the top eight.

Dundee Stars are in ninth place with Coventry Blaze occupying the eighth and final play-off position. They have 22 points from 29 fixtures.

No 1 netminder Travis Fullerton has flu and missed Saturday’s home defeat by Fife Flyers and the club’s under-20 goaltender, Jordan McLaughlin, may be asked to stand again after making his senior debut in front of nearly 2,000 highly-charged fans.

Panthers are in fourth position in the ten-strong table with 32 points from 27 matches and trail leaders Cardiff who have over 40 points from 28 games.

A certain absentee is Tyler Plews who has an upper body injury and Jared Staal is sidelined after being injured in a flare-up during the Braehead Clan clash last week.

Todd Dutiaume, Fife’s coach, felt that injury-hit Edinburgh could have beaten his men which underlines that Dobron has real talent in his low-budget squad.

Flyers’ coach, who leads his men into battle with Clan at Kirkcaldy on Tuesday (6pm), said: “Saturday’s game was there for Capitals to win and we made it tough on ourselves.”