The coach has always been quick to praise his players when they have performed well, but on the whole he has avoided publicly criticising them.

Until now that is.

Courtenay rounded on his squad last night after they went down 4-3 to the Nottingham Panthers, a result which virtually ends their interest in the Challenge Cup after just two matches.

Courtenay has reached the point where he is considering major changes to his line-up of imports and may even cut himself from the line-up and concentrate on coaching if he feels that would help the team.

"Nobody is safe now, not even myself," he said.

"Everyone has to pick up. Their top players scored and our top players have to score too.

"I never thought it would come to this, but it is not good enough.

"They have been on a two-week warning and their chances are running out.

"I will happily release all my ITC players if needs be because they are not on their jobs."

Courtenay must now be wondering where the team's next win is coming from.

Luckily for him the next game is against the only side they have beaten this season so they may just record another victory.

The Giants, however, will head for Edinburgh tomorrow night with a strong warning from their coach ringing in their ears rather than words of encouragement.

A win at home to the Nottingham Panthers was a must in order to maintain interest in the competition after crashing to a 7-1 defeat against the Cardiff Devils in the opening group game three weeks ago.

Not only that, after losing five games in a row the team needs an injection of confidence from somewhere.

Just where that is going to come from though is anyone's guess.

And a 4-3 reverse isn't going to help, but that is the situation the team finds itself in.

The Panthers were 2-0 in front with less than seven minutes gone last night.

Sean McAslan and Johan Molin had the visitors ahead, but they were pegged back before the end of the period with Scott Cameron - who is about the only player scoring goals on a regular basis at present - and Ryan Smith finding the net for the Giants.

Panthers scored twice in the second period too with former Giants Marc Leves and McAslan on target. This time, however, there was nothing in the way of a fightback from the Giants.

Carlyle Lewis showed some fighting spirit in a bout with Ryan Shmyr 15 minutes from the end, but that was about the only reason the home fans had to get off their seats.

The Belfast men outshot the visitors 10-4 in the final period, but only managed one goal, with Courtenay scoring himself off Ryan Smith's assist.

Now though he has a job on his hands to get the team back on the rails and that may have to be done with a new look side.