Telford Tigers return to home ice on Sunday when they face Manchester Phoenix - and with a trip to Milton Keynes Lightning the day before, player-coach Tom Watkins is predicting a tough weekend.

Three away games over the festive period saw Telford enjoy a relatively successful string of results, with three points keeping alive their mathematical hopes of an EPL play-off spot.

But for that run to continue, the Tigers must overcome a difficult to beat Milton Keynes line-up on Saturday, with Manchester sure to be smarting after they lost in Shropshire at the start of the season.

And Watkins believes his side's best chance lies in frustrating the higher-scoring outfits.

He said: "We're not on the same level as these teams financially, but every game we need to go in and compete.

"The longer we keep the score close, the more chance of frustrating them and maybe getting a win.

"We need to keep it nice and tight. I am always confident that we can go out and play to our level, but we just need to be mindful of their other threats."

The Telford boss is looking forward to playing in front of local fans for the first time in three weeks, and hopes his side can capitalise on home advantage.

He added: "It is always tough to play on the road, especially over Christmas and it would have been nice to have a couple of games at home.

"But it is always good to be back. Our rink is small, tough and things can happen quickly. We need to be alert and make sure we pick up our first points of 2012."

Manchester will feature newly-appointed Great Britain coach Tony Hand on Sunday, and Watkins will remain wary of the threat posed by the current EPL champions.

"We have had some close games against Manchester," he said.

"But we can't forget that they can score at a lot of goals. They have avery good offensive line, but the other two can contribute as well.

"We have beaten them once this season, but we shouldn't take anything for granted."

Watkins will have a fully-fit squad to choose from this weekend.

Saturday's game at Milton Keynes starts at 7pm, with Sunday's visit of Manchester facing off at 5.30pm.