Braehead Clan head coach John Tripp is confident that with only four games of the season remaining, his team will maintain their place in the top eight of the EIHL and will make the play-offs.

The Glasgow side face MK Lightening, Edinburgh Capitals, Nottingham Panthers and Guilford Flames before the play-off places are finalised but with the side on a good run - they have won three of their last four matches - Tripp is optimistic they can pick up enough points to make sure they are not overtaken in eighth spot.

“We definitely show up against the top teams and that’s nice to see we have that calibre,” he said

“So it’s just a case of doing that against the other teams too and that will definitely tell this weekend. It could be a do-or-die weekend and we realise that but it doesn’t get any more fun than this.

"I’m feeling good going into this weekend, especially having had such a good performance last weekend. So I have confidence that we can win.”

Tripp is relatively new to the coaching game and has overseen Braehead this season in what has been a somewhat inconsistent campaign. But he is confident that he will be given the chance to improve and continue the work he has done over the past year.

“You come here to do your job the best you can and so you have to stick to what you know,” he said.

“With experience comes pressure but you learn to deal with that pressure. And you learn how to use that adversity to your advantage.

“I think I will be here next season. As of now, I’m under contract - I’ve got a two year contract but at the ends of the season, we’ll take a look at things. But now is not the time to think about that - for now, we’ve got to concentrate on the task in hand.”