Coventry Blaze will be boosted by the availability of captain Ashley Tait, Russell Cowley and Ross Venus when Nottingham Panthers visit the Skydome on Wednesday night.

The trio missed the double-header with Fife Flyers in the Elite League at the weekend as they were on international duty with Great Britain. Brenden Walker was also absent in Kirkcaldy through illness but should return.

Head Coach Chuck Weber said: “It is a big bonus to have the three GB boys back. We have got a sickness bug going through the team, but at this time of the year you have to battle through that.

“Nottingham have lost (David) Ling and (Paul) Swindlehurst and picked up two defensemen, so they will have a different look to the last time we played them.

“We will need to make some adjustments on the fly, but they are still a deep team and will be rolling their lines and will play a fast game so we will need to be prepared for that.”

Blaze have won their last four games at the Skydome and hold a 4-2 record against the Panthers this season.

Weber added: “We have worked hard against them – we have managed to get out to a good lead before holding on, so we will need to learn from that.

“The fans are huge when they get behind us. On Wednesday with the kids out of school hopefully we can have a big crowd.

“We need a big push now. We have a lot of games left in our conference and Manchester have a lot of games in their conference so we need to get as many points as we can.”

With a win tonight, Blaze would equal a club record of eight consecutive home wins against the Panthers in EIHL competitions.

(Image permission: Scott Wiggins)