Braehead Clan Head Coach Ryan Finnerty admitted parts of Sunday’s game at Manchester Storm didn’t quite go to plan – but was proud of his players afterwards.

Clan are now third in the Elite League table following a four-point weekend, after taking all the points from their games against Dundee Stars and Storm.

Finnerty said: “I think we got outplayed a bit in the first period and Travis Fullerton had to make some big saves in the first two periods.

“We killed off a five-minute major penalty as well as the attacks when they had five-on-three opportunities, so we were defending pretty rigidly.

“We stuck to what we wanted to do and got some timely scoring. It turned out to be a good road game and I’m proud of the guys.

“Manchester are a team that are low on bodies and after they got a big win in Fife, we felt if we put them in tough areas, we could tire them out and exploit that in the third.

“They had plenty of powerplay chances in the second so our plan didn’t quite go as we would have liked, but they have got a lot of offense.

“We climb another spot and keep on rolling after picking up another good win in a tough barn.”

Finnerty also hailed the attitude shown by his men during their recent good run, with things clicking into place in a crucial month.

He’s urged his players to keep that positive mentality going and believes if they do, good things could happen for them.

He added: “It’s a four-point weekend, which we haven’t had too much of this season, but we seem to be rolling at the right time.

“When you’re picking off wins at this stage in the season, you have to be happy and I felt the guys battled pretty hard.

“The buy-in from the guys to play in the systems we had has been pretty incredible and we’re starting to believe now.

“With 20 odd games left, the mentality is good and no matter where you are in the standings, you have to adopt the thinking that every game is massive. Teams that can do that will win.”

(Image permission: Carol Ann Jardine)