Andrew Lord is demanding a big-hitting, physical performance from his Cardiff Devils team in the second leg of their play-off quarter-final.

Devils earned a 4-2 win in the first game at Coventry’s Skydome when Lord ran four lines consistently and said: “We raised our ante in the physical department. That’s probably the most hits we’ve had all season.

“The guys were going and you could see we are a much bigger team than we play sometimes.

“Josh Batch was direct and physical. He had a little bit of a snarl on him and generated scoring chances, while we all know what Matthew Myers brings to the team.

“There is a tremendous amount of skill on our team when we have the workrate, compete and passion which allows us to make plays.

“On Sunday we have to play even harder. One thing I wasn’t happy with was that after our fourth goal we eased off for four or five minutes.

“We needed to raise the ante at that stage, but allowed Coventry to gain some momentum. They got a penalty and had a 5v3 powerplay.

“We cannot afford to deviate shift to shift.”

There are less than 70 tickets left for the second leg against Blaze, who are certain to come out hard and take the game to Cardiff.

Devils players were delighted with the Red Army support in Coventry and Lord said:”The fans were super. Awesome.

“They were great and I thank them all.

“The first leg was a really good game and both teams were competing hard. To a men we bought in and that was exciting to see.

“It was a hugely committed effort across the team.”

Lord tweaked some of the on-ice combinations, with Layne Ulmer, Justin Faryna and Jake Morissette linking up.

Tyson Strachan and Mark Louis were paired up on the blue line.

“I really liked the combos and we have a little bit of everything on each line,” said Lord. “We wanted a little more balance in a few areas.”

Belfast Giants won the only other PredictorBet play-off tie on Friday, beating Nottingham Panthers 4-3 in Northern Ireland.

The teams play their return leg at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham on Sunday.

There are two PredictorBet play-offs quarter-final first leg matches this evening and they are: Manchester Storm v Fife Flyers, Sheffield Steelers v Guildford Flames.

Tickets for Devils play-off quarter-final home leg against Blaze on Sunday (6pm) can be purchased by CLICKING HERE or by ringing 0800 0842 666.

Four teams will go forward to the play-off finals weekend is in Nottingham over the weekend of Saturday, April 7 and Sunday, April 8.