NOTTINGHAM Panthers lay their Elite League title hopes on the line in the next eight days.

Put simply, four games against their biggest rivals – three of them at home – will determine their season.

Second-placed Panthers face league leaders Belfast at home tomorrow (7pm) and again on Sunday (4pm), bidding to close the seven-point gap on the Giants.

Forty-eight hours later they make the short journey up the M1 on Tuesday to take on the ever-dangerous Sheffield Steelers, who lie in third spot, two points adrift but with five games in hand.

And next Saturday, Steelers are at the National Ice Centre for what is expected to be another packed house.

Sheffield lost heavily in their last two games against Panthers at Christmas (5-3 and 5-1) and they also went down 4-2 at home to Belfast last weekend.

Panthers last faced Belfast in January and won 3-2 at the Odyssey Arena.

Notably, Belfast and Sheffield also have to face each other three more times, with Steelers having a double-header in the Province during March.

Panthers have arguably the easiest run-in of the title contenders after next weekend, with only one more game against their main rivals.

And that is against Belfast, away, on the last day of the league season.

But Panthers coach Corey Neilson says they are not looking too far ahead and nothing should be read into past results.

He said: "These three leading teams are good; they're real power-houses right now, and results can go either way.

"But Sheffield can wait. We are looking no further than Belfast this weekend.

"We've put the guys through some tough training sessions this week and they've been really fast and sharp.

"They are ready for what amounts to our biggest week of the season. But all we can do is keep on winning.

"We know it may come down to these four games and winning them all would make a huge statement of our intentions.

"The last time we played Belfast away, we competed well, took our chances and had good goaltending.

"It was a very good win and I'd take the same again. It's always going to be a one or two-goal game against these sides.

"We're talking about two fantastic teams here, capable of playing 60 minutes at a high tempo – and we know we are capable of winning."

Despite two defeats at the turn of the year to, ironically, Braehead – the team also owned by Panthers chief Neil Black – Neilson has been happy with the form of his players.

"Over the season we've not had too many poor or below par performances," he said.

"At times, other elements have sometimes contrived to be against us.

"You won't see any of this team taking a night off; they will go that extra mile to win games.

"We've scored a lot of goals, the defence and goaltending are strong and hopefully that will be enough to see us through.

"In most games we can outskate teams – apart from me – but Belfast and us match up well.

"Bringing (Mike) Hoffman back has given them some size and (Paul) Deniset is now match fit and looking like the player he was last season.

"But we have to try to play them five on five.

"They have the best special teams (power-play and penalty-killing) in the league.

"So trying to keep out of the penalty box is key to getting the right result."

Tomorrow sees Panthers' appeal for T-shirts and underpants for the tsunami victims in Thailand reach its peak.

The club is hoping fans will add to the tops donated by former captain Dwayne Keward and his Just Schoolwear company, with pants for three to 18 year-olds and T-shirts for the older kids.

The collection of clothing will be made in the NIC foyer before the game against Belfast tomorrow.