Bees go to Guildford Flames this Saturday evening (6pm f/o) before hosting Slough Jets at The Hive on Sunday (6pm f/o).
They then face a tricky double header with Manchester Phoenix, who sit second in the English Premier Ice Hockey League behind Guildford.
While Bees managed to take three points from their last two matches with Phoenix, they did not fare quite as well in their most recent encounter with Guildford.
Not only did they lose 7-0 - their heaviest defeat of the season - but the below-par performance drew criticism from some frustrated supporters.
Cox insists his team now want to ‘get things right’ this Saturday as they bid to end Flames’ seven-match winning streak.
“It’s a tough weekend but after Guildford last time out we want to make sure we are on our game and want to prove that we can beat anyone in this league,” he told the News.
“We have a battling spirit in this team, we proved that on Sunday against MK. There is a lot of pride in the squad and the guys don’t want the same to happen again [against Guildford].” Bees will face a different test on Sunday as they face a Jets side who have made a number of personnel changes this season. They have axed long-term netminder Gregg Rockman, Ryan Watt and captain Michael Wales, who was released last week due to financial reasons.
Czech Kamil Jarina has been brought in to replace Rockman while former Bees ace Alan Lack has also signed on with Slough.
“We haven’t seen their new netminder yet but it’s up to us to find a way to break them down,” admitted Cox.
“I think everybody has been surprised by the changes they have made, but if they have been financial then it is understandable. Slough have always been a tough team and we largely know what to expect.” Jets have climbed the table recently after a rocky start to the season, but are still only four points above Bees in fifth place.
That gap could have been even smaller had Bees taken more from their double header with MK Lightning last weekend.
On Saturday they blew a two-goal lead to lose 3-2, with the winner coming in the final minute, and the following night they fought back from 4-0 down to force overtime, only to lose 5-4.
“We were disappointed with just a point, we could quite easily have got four,” argued Cox.
“There are plenty of positives from the weekend. It’s just disappointing we didn’t get a win as one point is not good enough. But we are improving and the league is very tight, two wins could take us up to fifth so anything can happen.”
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