Sunday 4 June 2017 09:56, UK
Loughborough Lightning head coach Karen Atkinson says her side want to head into the Vitality Superleague Final Four by beating Surrey Storm on Saturday , live on Sky Sports.
Lightning are top of the league having suffered just one defeat all season to Wasps Netball, but with the Final Four at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham next weekend, Atkinson wants her side to continue that winning momentum.
They finish the regular season with a home game against Surrey Storm, who require an emphatic win and a Team Bath defeat to sneak into the top four.
Atkinson said: "We can't just put our finger on one thing - we've had a fantastic team culture this year and out of our coaching staff recruited on character as well as skill level and tried to find the players we felt that would work together, which seems to have paid off for us.
"We've done lots of different things around our training environment, the sessions we have and just adapting a lot of things and it's really paid off."
Although Lightning are nine points clear of their nearest rivals, Atkinson says her side are still completely motivated.
She said: "We've been qualified for the semi-finals for the last three of four rounds so we've been trying to take each of these games as if it was our semi-final - just working on how we could approach that do-or-die game. We want to go into next weekend's game with a bit of momentum.
"We've done some back-to-back day game simulations, and also working on our recovery strategy and we've got plans in place ready for the Final Four weekend so we're really excited about it. The girls are not afraid of playing one day after the next in two really highly competitive matches.
"They know despite all the wins you have to bring your 'A' game because it is do-or-die. That semi-final is just a massively important one-off game."
Follow the action on Sky Sports Mix from 5.45pm on Saturday when Loughborough Lightning take on Surrey Storm, and if you are out and about follow us @SkyNetball
The regular season league home and away matches run from February to June, culminating in semi-finals and a Grand Final to determine the league champion.
