RYAN FINNERTY is confident Braehead Clan will be fit for purpose tonight after a flu bug floored the Canadian's team this week.

The Glasgow club struggled to a 4-3 overtime win on Wednesday against Nottingham Panthers, with several team members feeling under the weather, and ace defenceman Zack Fitzgerald not even playing.

It's a headache which has come at the wrong time for Clan, given they are within one win of going clear of Belfast Giants at the top of the EIHL, with the Northern Irish side not on domestic duty this weekend.

And, with third-placed Coventry Blaze keen to stay in the mix early on, Finnerty is sure his ailing squad will 'come out flying' and leave their opponents feeling sick tonight.

He said: "We're getting a little healthier day by day and we'll be okay for tonight. There are quite a few of the guys battling through it. It's a bug that has gone through our team, but hopefully we've seen the worst of it.

"A few players have been nursing injuries but we'll have Fitzgerald and Chris Frank back and we will come out flying to make sure we continue our good run."

It's a sequence of results which has seen Braehead take four wins from four games, their last defeat coming against Coventry on October 5.

What is even more impressive is that just three out of Clan's 13 games in the league and Challenge Cup this season have come at Braehead Arena after the side went on the road for a month, and Finnerty is keen for that success on the road not to be wasted.

"It's nice to be near the top of the league but we're still in October," he said. "Our main focus is making sure we are better than in midweek. We had a good run on road, but we must not allow it to go to waste. We need to find consistency and that means winning tonight."