Matthew Myers says Nottingham Panthers need to find some consistency to boost their Elite League title challenge.

Panthers lost 5-3 at Coventry on Tuesday night, but they have the chance for revenge as they welcome Blaze to the National Ice Centre on Thursday. Myers is confident they can bounce back, but is anticipating another tough game.

“It’s a blip – teams lose games,” said Myers. “It happens here and it happens in the NHL, but the key to championship winning teams is that when you lose, you turn it around quickly.

“There’s a lot of hockey left to play and we need to get a run together. Tuesday was a game in hand and one we desperately needed to win.

“For one reason or another we just aren’t consistent. We’ll look to beat them in our building. It’s bigger ice and a different game. They’ll be on a high though.

“They’ll come at us and we need to get our act together. If you look at the first period, we gave up three goals. They took their chances and we didn’t.”

Boris Valabik has called for another determined effort from Coventry as they look to end the year on a high.

Blaze have lost on their previous two visits to Nottingham this season, but Valabik is hoping for a repeat of Tuesday’s performance.

He said: “They have a great team so if we want to win against them we need to play our best and we were pretty close to that.

“We played physical and did all the little details right and that is exactly what you need to do against a good team like that.

“They have a really good team with lots of skill and speed and they have physical guys too – they have a complete package.

“They are one of the teams you need to beat in order to win the championship. I am very happy and proud of the team.”

Coventry boss Chuck Weber added: “It is a huge game for us now on Thursday. Nottingham has not been a good building for us.

“We have struggled against the Panthers there, but if we can come out with the same kind of effort in the first period it will give us a great opportunity.”