DEESIDE DRAGONS face their sternest test of the season to date against Widnes Wild, according to player-coach Marc Lovell.

After an indifferent start to the campaign, the resurgent Dragons have climbed to fourth in the Laidler Conference standings after three successive league wins.

The Flintshire club claimed its first double-header victory of the season last weekend, with a 5-2 win at Hull Jets preceding a 3-1 home success over Altrincham Aces.

But Lovell insists the visit of the league leaders on Sunday will expose his side's recent improvements to scrutiny.

He said: "I think the Widnes game will be a good measure of how much we've improved.

"They're the only side we haven't played yet in this division, but as expected they've started really well and have got a decent lead at the top.

"They've won nine from 11 this season and are looking very much like favourites for the title.

"We know that they're the league's in-form team, so us getting anything from this one depends on us showing the same focus and workrate we've had in the last three games."

The Dragons' upturn in form has coincided with a new-found defensive solidity, which Dragons coaches have ascribed to hard work in training.

Individual errors cost them vital points earlier in the campaign, but Lovell is cautiously optimistic that they have now been eradicated.

"Things have definitely improved for us on the ice over the last two or three weeks" he added.

"I don't want to tempt fate, but it feels like we've turned a bit of a corner of late.

"We struggled to find any kind of consistency early in the season, but the players have worked hard in training to improve and eliminate errors.

"It seems like we've dug in bit more in the last three games and been a bit more resilient.

"Defensively you can see we've made progress and we haven't allowed games to get away from us recently.

"We've kept in contention and remained focus across three periods to come away with some important wins, like we did against Hull and Altrincham.

"Those are the standards we need to maintain if we're going to challenge for promotion in a very tight league."

The Dragons have no fresh injury concerns and are at full-strength for the game.

Saturday's only fixture sees Telford Tigers host Coventry Blaze, while basement side Blackburn Hawks head to Senators a day later as Coventry complete a weekend double at home to Altrincham.