McSorley juggles duties for cup showdown

Coach Chris McSorley will be making a last-minute dash from his duties as Great Britain coach to take his place behind the bench for London Knights' Challenge Cup semi-final first leg away to Ayr Scottish Eagles tonight.

Assistant coach Paul Rushforth - currently out with a knee injury - was expected to step in but McSorley, holding his first training camp in Hull since taking over as GB coach, will make the journey to Ayr's Centrum Arena as his injury-plagued side attempt to reverse Sunday's 6-4 league defeat against the Scottish side.

With a goal in each of his first two games, forward Jussi Eloranta has settled in and the Evening Standard-sponsored Knights' chief executive officer Brian Jokat has been impressed with the Finn's contributions. He said: "Eloranta must be the fastest skater in the league. He plays tough and he's an easy guy to manage."

Knights are down to just 12 fit skaters after picking up another injury at the weekend.

Forward Brendan Yarema injured his shoulder during the 3-0 win over Belfast and, with Ayr having a full bench, London will again find it tough.

But Jokat feels that London were unlucky to lose on Sunday and said: "The 6-4 result was not indicative of the result that could have happened.

"We need to eradicate some critical errors and not give away stupid penalties."