Guildford Flames’ boss Paul Dixon believes his team’s two performances over the weekend showed they are ready to make their mark on the EPL play-offs.

The Flames fell 4-2 at Basingstoke Bison on Saturday, but bounced back with an impressive 4-1 home victory against Swindon Wildcats the following day to leave Dixon eagerly anticipating the end-of-season showdown.

“The visit to Bison was a real local derby evening – it was intense and ill-tempered and clearly a game that both teams wanted to win,” said Dixon.

“After we got the lead they really turned it up a bit, and they were able to go to the third in front, and we just couldn’t get it back from there.

“We were solid on Sunday, and fortunately were able to get a lead that we were able to hang onto for the rest of the night.

“In the third period, despite them cutting the deficit a bit, we really dominated and were able to get a lot of good opportunities to put the game away.

“It was a play-off style weekend, and there were a lot of good signs that we are ready to play the kind of hard-nosed, gritty game that will be required when the play-off round gets underway.”

(Image permission: John Uwins)