Sheffield Steelers coach Aaron Fox appreciates Glasgow Clan’s gamesmanship after latest hard-fought win

Steelers laboured to a 3-2 win over the Scots on Sunday in a game where the visitors' distinctive, defensive, counter-attack game - plus their aggression off the puck - rattled the hosts.

Bizarrely, it was Sheffield' s third consecutive 3-2 win at home against the Glaswegians.

The first two were Overtime wins. Sunday's game went all the way to the wire in regulation.

In short, Clan stick to you like glue, they are hard to shake off and annoyingly efficient in closing games down.

In the Sheffield dressing room after the latest win, Vojtech Polák was baffled how he could be crosschecked three times by Colton Yellow Horn and yet no call was given.

Fox shared the concern over officiating the actions of such an intense side.

But more pressingly, he has to plan for a return game in Glasgow on Wednesday.

"They are a team that plays a hard, heavy game, they make it difficult to get net-front traffic, they are not afraid to hook and hold and sometimes you'd like the ref to kind of dig in there and not allow that kind of game.

"We are a team that likes to play fast and their style affects that a little bit.

"They want to muddy the water, they want to dumb the game down. They know we are a team that plays fast and for 60 minutes and if they can slow the game down and chip away at us and get under our skin, I think that benefits them for sure."

Clan coach Malcolm Cameron bemoaned the fact his team's bus had arrived late at the Arena and his players had little preparation time.

He appraised Sheffield as a team with depth: "They have guys who have been here a while and are used to playing together."

Steelers' victory completed another four-point weekend.

They lead second-place Belfast Giants by three points with two games in hand.

Curtis Warburton was unavailable for Sunday's game as back-up goalie which meant Sheffield had to axe an import from their line up, as Barry Brust was understudy to Rok Stojanovic.

Fox said it was important for Warburton to get ice time at NIHL club Bees.

Sheffield had in fact been offered an opportunity to bring in an emergency back-up, but the coach decided to rest Tommaso Traversa.

"He is a pro, a true professional, he showed up the same time as the boys and started work on a (gym) bike, he handled it as a pro would."

Marco Vallerand's winning goal on Sunday was the club's 125th of the League campaign, second only in the division to Belfast. It was Vallerand's 26th in both domestic competitions. Fox described the gifted forward as "the best player in the League."