I was talking last week about how much of what I learnt from my college coach Danny Flynn has come back to me. Not only did he instil in us the importance of getting the hockey basics right; he also was tactically very astute and communicated that aspect of the game very clearly. What I'm also realising is how well we were prepared mentally for games - something at the time that I maybe took for granted or didn't even realise was happening.

Here I've got to hold my hands up. That first period against Newcastle we were flat. We weren't prepared from the moment the puck dropped at the beginning of the game to play our best hockey. I was angry when we went back into the locker room at the end of the first period and so were the guys. Angry and frustrated.

Take away the empty net goal and we won the next forty minutes of hockey but by then it was too late. Being beaten by a better team you can accept, but knowing you are responsible for losing a game you should have won is a bitter pill to swallow.

When we played last season with ten men we often ran out of energy after forty minutes but we never ever conceded a period before we started playing.

Were we complacent after our win on the road last weekend against Nottingham? Perhaps. That certainly was a game to remember and the miles sped by on our way home.

I mentioned ten-man hockey above. That's not something I ever want to do again and I was determined to play against Nottingham with a full bench. It's a big ask of young men to step in to a new team at Elite level at the last minute and play in one of the most daunting arenas in the country. I think our guest players did us proud that night, every one of them.

It's probably also a big ask of thirty or forty Bison fans to take on 3000 home fans but they didn't let us down either. It's the first time in my hockey career that I've got cheered for loading my kit on to the coach. Thanks, guys.

So now we've got one chance to get things right this weekend That will be sixty minutes - not forty - of focus and effort.