Telford Tigers’ boss Tom Watkins believes away form could hold the key to a sustained assault on the EPL title this season.

The Tigers have won all four of their league games so far, including comfortable victories at Basingstoke Bison and Guildford Flames.

Home games against Manchester Phoenix and Sheffield Steeldogs have been far closer affairs, and Watkins thinks that could be become a feature of the season.

The Shropshire outfit travel to face Swindon Wildcats on Saturday, before Sunday’s visit of Basingstoke and Watkins wants his team to continue their good form.

He said: “It would be very satisfying to win there, as it’s always good to pick up points on the road and start the season with three away wins.

“We have to turn up and play on the road, if we want to have a chance of being involved in a title push. We’ve got to turn up every night.

“I think we’ve played our better hockey away from home so far and struggled a bit with our play at home. Our road form has been good, so we need to keep that going.

“We’ve had good discipline in away games, and we want to make sure we have that same discipline here in Telford.

“Swindon are quite similar to what they had last year. We all know Max (Birbraer) and he was a great guy for our team over the last few years.

“He’s playing in red now, so we need to go and play in a rink where we haven’t had a lot of success recently. We’ve got to find a way of turning the corner there.

“Basingstoke have got some outstanding players and anything can happen.

“We just have to be switched on, regardless of who we’re playing against. It is essential that we bring our best every shift.

“That is something you work towards all the time and you will have ups and downs, but the sign of a good team is when you don’t play great but still pick up points.”

(Image permission: Steve Brodie)