GARY SHAW says Deeside Dragons are in limbo while their home venue is used as a temporary hospital but the club will consider a number of options once the NIHL Laidler Conference campaign is given the go ahead to start.

Around 250 beds have been made available at Deeside Leisure Centre to treat North Wales residents with symptoms of Covid-19.

It is understood that the "rainbow hospital" has not been required yet but fears of a second wave of the virus hitting the health system during the winter means that it might not be decommissioned until the new year.

Head coach Shaw revealed contingency plans have been draw up if a decision is made on when the 2020-21 season will start due to Dragons' rink being out of use.

"We don't know what is going to happen," said Shaw. "The ice was taken up in April.

"They can put it back probably within a week but it is just getting all the beds and everything out of there.

"I don't believe it is being used at all, it is just on standby; I think they are keeping their minds open until after Christmas in case there is another spike.

"We have looked at options about playing out of another rink or playing all our games away but nothing is concrete at the moment.

"We are just in limbo until we know what they are doing with the leisure centre.

"We have just got to find out how long this delay is going to be with the leisure centre and then we can move forward."

A decision on when the new season kicks-off will have a big say on Dragons' next move, with the club currently unable to hold training sessions as they don't have access to a rink.

"They are on about starting the league late and if they do that, and we get the rink back next year, then we could play all our games away first and play our home games in the new year," said Shaw.

"The EIHA have not made a firm decision on when the league is going to start.

"They are in limbo because it is a contact sport so they are just playing it by ear at the moment.

"They have given the opportunity for people to train but you are only allowed so many on the ice to train."

Shaw revealed that a number of options will be discussed but not having a team in the Laidler Conference for the upcoming season is a possibility.

"We are going to have a team meeting shortly and speak to the lads to see what they want to do," added Shaw.

"It is cost if we go to another rink and we have got no revenue coming in to pay for that. We have got to look at how would we pay for it.

"If we play all our away games, it will only be half a season for the players and they have got nowhere to train anyway.

"We would have to look for training facilities as well because we have got no facilities at the moment to train, and that goes with the junior club as well.

"We could just opt out for a season. We just don't know because we have not made any decisions yet.

"There are a lot of factors to consider."