Great Britain boss Pete Russell has urged his players not to take the Netherlands lightly when they meet in their latest World Championship game on Friday.

GB have three wins out of three as they chase promotion to Division 1A, in stark contrast to three straight losses for the Dutch who will bid to upset the hosts in Belfast.

Russell is pleased at how his team have come along as they eye up a winner-takes-all clash with Japan on Saturday.

“The Netherlands haven’t had a good campaign, but that doesn’t mean we can take them lightly – we have a job to do and I’m confident we will,” said Russell.

“If we do and get Friday out the way, then we can start to look at Saturday’s game with Japan and the start of the game is important for this one again.

“I think we’re getting better every game. We certainly look good in the offensive zone and have been relentless in forechecking and the powerplay has started firing.

“The penalty killing has got stronger after losing a couple of five-on-threes, so the percentage maybe looks worse than it is. We’re doing well in the face-offs and goaltending so it’s all good so far.

“The first periods in all games have been good from us, starting lively and really taking it to teams in the early stages. That’s something we touch on before every game and we go out to set the tone.

“There’s a real good vibe among the players right now and they know when it’s business time, so we’ll go out and do it again against the Dutch.”

(Image permission: Dean Woolley)