Steve Thornton is going to do his talking on the ice as he prepares to return to the Belfast Giants line-up.

The player-coach missed the weekend victories over the Edinburgh Capitals and Hull Stingrays after being stunned by a two-match suspension resulting from his controversial collision with Hull goaltender Curtis Cruickshank a week earlier.

And he is back at just the right time with a massive clash against Elite League leaders Sheffield at the Odyssey tonight.

“I just want to concentrate on playing and coaching and trying to get two more points,” said Thornton.

“This is a big game for us and me coming back into the line-up means that we will have five defencemen, which will be important against a team like Sheffield because they will come at us hard.

“We want the two points and if we get them then we’ll be four points behind Sheffield with a game in hand and that’s nothing.

“As it stands things are in our own hands as far as the title is concerned. It’s good that it’s that way and I still like our chances.”

Paul Deniset’s return has been a major boost for the Giants, not least because he scored the winning goal in overtime against the Hull Stingrays on Sunday night to give the team a fourth win in five games.