Dalefield player-coach Willie Schaefer is contemplating making several positional changes for his team's Wellington premier division men's hockey match with Hutt at the National Hockey Stadium in Wellington tomorrow.
Coming hard on the heels of losses to Victoria University last Saturday and Harbour City-Tawa on Monday, Dalefield is in need of
a confidence boost.
A victory against the Hutt team, which is at the top of the points table, would certainly provide such a boost.
That Dalefield have nothing to fear from Hutt was illustrated by their first-round clash when Dalefield produced a dazzling display to win by 5-2, the only loss Hutt have suffered to date this season.
But Schaefer is concerned that his team's mental attitude hasn't been as good as it should be after their recent poor performances.
"It's not that we don't have the players to do a decent job, it's just that we maybe need to freshen the minds and moving some of them around might just do that," said Schaefer.
"Most of the guys are pretty versatile and that makes it easier to do."
Schaefer anticipates Hutt being a more disciplined and structured side than they were in the first-round encounter and therefore the onus would be on Dalefield to show patience in building their attacks.
"They were probably caught a bit by surprise by us last time, they won't be caught again," he said.
"We're going to have to work that much harder for anything we get and that's why the attitude has to be spot on."
