Pollard fuelled by hate for clash with Milton Keynes

Nathan Pollard has set his sights on derby glory to follow up Phantoms’ best result of the season.

The forward ace hit the final goal as the city men thumped title favourites Swindon 6-3 at Planet Ice last Sunday night.

And he is confident they can pick up where they left off when heading to Milton Keynes this Saturday for a crunch clash against their fierce rivals, 7pm.

The Buckinghamshire side have endured a tough return to the second tier of the sport after two seasons in the Elite League.

They find themselves languishing second-bottom of the standings and Pollard, who also lit the lamp in Phantoms’ 6-4 loss in Hull last Saturday, hopes to add to their misery.

“We were awesome to a man against Swindon,” reflected Pollard. “We stuck to the gameplan and outworked a top team for the full 60 minutes.

“We knew they would come here fighting and angry after losing at home to Telford on Saturday night, but we didn’t really give them too much of a sniff.

“We were relentless and we’re feeling confident at the moment. We’re scoring a lot of good goals and hopefully that continues.

“It’s never going to be easy going away to MK for a local derby. They get good crowds and will have a lot of people behind them.

“I hate them and I think everyone here does. We always want to beat them and it is always crunch time against them.

“MK are obviously going to be fired up too. They have signed a big player in Liam Stewart recently, who will definitely strengthen them, and also have guys back from injury.

“But we don’t tend to worry about who is on the opposition roster. It’s all about focusing on our own performance, sticking to our tactics and doing the things we’re good at.”

The result of the trip to Milton Keynes and a home clash against Sheffield on Sunday (5.30pm) both count towards the NIHL National Cup as well as the league standings.

Pollard added: “We got two points the weekend before last against Raiders for the cup and another two against Swindon.

“We’ve got four more up for grabs this weekend against Milton Keynes and Sheffield and our aim is to get as many of them as possible.

“We know it’s always a tough test physically when we face Sheffield and that won’t be any different on Sunday.

“But we’ve been playing at a good tempo at home. We’ve been finishing our hits and the crowd have really been behind us.

“They help us to create momentum and have been doing a great job just like the guys on the ice.”

Nathan Pollard marked the weekend with a second goal in as many games. Pictures: Tom Scott

Ales Padelek pounced on an error to put Phantoms 5-3 up against Swindon