DEESIDE DRAGONS player-coach Marc Lovell hopes his side have ‘found their ruthless streak’ ahead of this weekend’s fixture double-header.

A 17-1 demolition of struggling Blackburn Hawks last weekend handed the Flintshire club their biggest victory in three seasons and kick-started their stuttering Laidler Conference campaign.

With tomorrow’s trip to Bradford Bulldogs preceding a home clash with Sheffield club Senators on Sunday, Lovell has targeted further clinical displays from the Dragons attackers.

He said: “Prior to the Blackburn game we’d talked about how wasteful we were in front of goal the week before. We’ve worked hard in training on taking our chances and our finishing was much sharper after that.

“It felt as though we clicked and found that ruthless streak to our game that’s been missing at times this season. We need to be that clinical every week in this division now and prove we can show this type of quality regularly - especially against tougher opposition.”

The Bulldogs are currently third in a closely-contested division, with Senators just below the Dragons in seventh.

Lovell expects a stern test from both of this weekend’s opponents and believes the battle for title honours will go down to the wire this term.

He added “Already you’re seeing how tight things are in this league with teams dropping points in games you’d expect them to win.

“Results really can go either way in a lot of matches, so it’s vital that we try to bring all the positives of last weekend into this one and try to find a bit of consistency.

“We’re now going up against two of the league’s strongest teams so it will be a big test of where we’re at this season.

“We know we’re in for two very tough games but we have to approach them with a positive frame of mind and confident we can come away from the weekend with four points.”

Skipper James Parsons will lead the Dragons out once more looking to build on his healthy 11-goal tally this season.

Netminder Jonah Armstrong and defender Gavin Austin miss tomorrow's game, but should return to face Senators.

Leaders Widnes Wild head to Blackburn tomorrow, while Coventry blaze host Hull Jets.

Sunday’s only other clash sees Coventry host Widnes.