It’s here. And it’s do or die time.

Strap yourselves in for what promises to be the most heart-thumping A45 derby in recent history as the Barons take on the Coventry ENL Blaze in a ‘winner takes all’ relegation stand-off.

A win for Coventry will all but guarantee safety, whilst nothing short of victory will do for the Barons if they are to continue the chase to beat the drop, and defenceman Luke Thomas insists that it is a game they dare not lose.

“This game is massive for both teams.” Said Thomas.

“Both teams need to be in this division if I’m honest, we’re both bigger than the division below us but I think it really is winner takes all.

“We dare not lose, we want to keep it going and we’ll work hard until the last game.

“We’ll always have that chance to win. We proved against Billingham that we can play against top teams. We turned Trafford over and we were close to turning Billingham over last time.

“We’ve got a hard run in but there is always a chance in every game to get two points. It’s a real big game, it’s all to play for. But like I say, we’ll give it all until the end. None of us will say that we’re down until that very last game.”

Both sides have six league games remaining with Solihull currently trailing the Blaze by four points – but they face each other in two of those games. The second is in two weeks time at Hobs Moat Road and Thomas is relishing the thought of that game being another key relegation battle.

He added: “Providing we’re still in contention that will be a massive, massive game.

“We are going to urge as many fans as we can to get down for that game, it could be make or break for our whole season and provide us with some good momentum to go into next season – but we have to get a result at the Skydome first.

“We’ve just been taking each game at a time, we’ve been looking at this weekend’s games over training this week and it’s really fired us up. We’re ready.”

It is almost easy to forget about the Barons other game this weekend, such is the build-up of the A45 derby part three. But at this stage of the season every point matters and Thomas was clear to point out that Sunday’s trip to Whitley Bay presents an opportunity to secure some shock points on the road.

“It will be a tough trip. We went up there last time and we stayed with them, quite a few teams go down, but a rink like Whitley is just about turning up and screwing your heads on and standing up.

“If we can go up there and play as well as we played against Billingham last weekend then it should be a close game and it’s important to focus on getting some points.”

Coventry ENL Blaze V Solihull Barons Coventry Skydome Sat Feb 18 7:30pm face-off Darren and the boys have asked for an electric atmosphere from the Barons support for this season defining game. If all travelling Barons supporters could sit in block 4 at the Skydome, then this will help to create a powerful and united atmosphere for the team.

Whitley Warriors v Solihull Barons, Sun Feb 19, 5pm face-off. Coach departs HMR at 10:30am. Reserve tickets by contacting
thesolihullbarons@gmail.com.