Head Coach Kevin Parrish believes this weekend could be one of the toughest yet for the Invicta Dynamos as they face two EPL sides in the English Challenge Cup.

Having pulled off a great result against Bracknell Bees in Gillingham a fortnight ago, winning a pulsating tie 6-4, they head to the same opponents on Saturday evening before returning to Kent on Sunday night to face the Guildford Flames.

Both games would normally represent a tough challenge for the Dynamos, even if they were to be at full strength, but Parrish has prepared fans for what could be a mountain to climb as they go into the weekend short on numbers.

Once again the Dynamos will be without the services of leading scorer Andy Smith (concussion), Grant Baxter (knee injury) and Charlie Phillips (wrist injury), whilst Juraj Huska might not be risked due to a niggle and Parrish is hoping his side can see the weekend out and have his key players back for the following weekend:

“We are going to be light on numbers and as nice as it would be to go to Bracknell and go with everyone available, we will have to go with what we’ve got.”

“That doesn’t mean we are going there to make up the numbers and we’ve already shown that we are capable of beating them, but we have to focus on our league and cup and if that means resting a few guys, then so be it.”

“I wouldn’t want to risk Andy Smith, he gets another hit and then be out for a number of weeks. It makes more sense for him to take this weekend off and get ready for some important games coming up before Christmas.”

“That’s the same with Charlie, he felt his wrist last Saturday night and it started to swell up, so we have decided not to make it any worse and he might just have to have a few more weeks without icing and see where he goes from there.”

“Ideally we would like to see him back before Christmas, but we’re not going to rush him and make it worse.”

On a positive note, Arran Strawson will be back after missing last Sunday’s game against Milton Keynes Thunder after serving a one match ban.

With so few players in which to call from, Parrish would have loved to seen import Joonas Liimatainen turn up, but after some frustrating weeks waiting for the Finn to arrive, he has finally given up on seeing the import in a Dynamos jersey:

“It’s been a frustrating time and we gave Joonas every chance to sort things out his end, but it never happened and we move on.”

“Maybe it’s a blessing as I wouldn’t have wanted him to turn up and then decide after a few weeks that he wanted to go somewhere else.”

“We only want players here that want to play for the Dynamos and I’m on the look out for another quality defenceman. I’ve got a decent list of names in which to choose from and agents are regularly calling me, so hopefully we will have something in place on that front soon.”

Having climbed to third place in the league, winning six of their opening nine league games, the Dynamos will be looking to keep pace with early leaders Chelmsford Chieftains, but this weekend will give the team the chance to test themselves against the best players in the country and it’s something Parrish believes can only benefit his side in the long run:

“Our focus has to be on competitions that we can win, but we have to use these English Challenge Cup games and see what we can take from them.”

“Some of our younger guys can learn an awful lot from playing against sides like Bracknell and Guildford and hopefully it will stand them in good stead for the rest of the season.”

A big crowd is expected at the Silver Blades Ice Bowl in Gillingham on Sunday night for the visit of the Guildford Flames with face off at 5:15pm.

Picture supplied by David Trevallion.