George Awada: Belfast Giants are finding their groove

The busy festive period of games which lie ahead of the Giants present the team with important points available.

Awada said: “This is the time of the year when the games start to come at you thick and fast.

“You want to be in form going into this time of the season, you turn up and it just starts to click for you.

“We have put behind those injuries which have been impacting us earlier in the year.

“All those things that kind of went wrong for a few months back are correcting themselves.”

Awada continued: “We now have some players who are playing in-sync and we appear to have found our groove. So having things come together right now is great and hopefully we can continue in this form.

“There is still an awful lot of hockey to be played this season, we are still chasing Cardiff.

“Sheffield are a little depleted and some of the other teams also have injuries right now and that's something we need to take advantage off.

“If we win the games ahead us that is all that we need to worry about, then we will see what happens in March and April at the end of the season.”

Festive games, says Awada, always help to reinvigorate the locker-room.

He explained: “We were looking at the schedules recently and we have been on the road a lot in the early part of the season.

“We have done alright on the road but it is the home games that you want to get to play.

“The atmosphere this time of year is always superb and the games are always exciting, so it is really good to be at home this time of year.

The buzz and lift that you get from the fans, even if you are feeling a little tired, will give the locker-room a great boost.

“You want to put your best foot forward and that is what we will do as a squad. Hopefully we will get the right results.”

While the Giants play the depleted Fife Flyers this weekend Awada says the Giants won't underestimate them.

He said: “They have always had the underdog mentality that they use it to their advantage, they have caused an upset against Sheffield already this season.”