PLAYER-COACH Lukas Smital said it was great to see the Bracknell Bees back in action, but admitted there is still a lot of work to be done if the club are to flourish this season, writes Dave Wright.

Bees opened their English Premier League campaign last weekend on a losing note – going down 4-1 at Milton Keynes on Saturday and 5-2 to Sheffield Steeldogs at The Hive on Sunday.

But just to be playing again was a tremendous achievement and there was an almighty cheer from their loyal fans when the players emerged for their first home game of the new campaign.

The whole future of the club had been in some doubt during the close season and it needed a super-human effort by Smital and supporters to make sure they survived.

“Yes, it was very tough and there was a lot of uncertainty,” said Smital, who was quick to praise the unstinting efforts of his two fellow directors, Matt Fettel and Carol Miller.

“They are doing a great job, working behind the scenes and have made it a little easier for me in looking after the team,” he added.

“The work these two are doing is outstanding. But we’ve still got a lot of work to do and without them it would be really tough.

“Our [the team’s] job is to perform well, so people will still come to watch us and help us survive. We also want more sponsors bringing money into the club.”

Despite his limited budget, Smital was able to recruit four new imports and they should certainly make the squad stronger than it was last season.

“We had to strengthen within the limits of what our allowance was,” said the Czech.

“Hopefully when they [imports] settle in they will have a great impact. For some players it takes a little bit longer than others.”

Smital admitted last weekend’s two opening EPIHL fixtures “didn’t go our way and the weekend didn’t go as planned”, but added: “We are just grateful to be playing.”

He continued: “We have only played two [league] games and there are a lot of positives we can take from them. It is a young team; they are on a learning curve.

“I’m pretty positive we will learn a lot. We need to keep our heads up and show a positive mindset and keep plugging away.”

Bees’ player-coach is refusing to make any predictions about the 2016/17 season, explaining: “I am not into the prediction stuff. You can’t take in the big picture because there are so many circumstances like players being injured.

“I just want to be focussing on next weekend and I know it is going to be very tough for us,” he added.

Bees are away to last season’s league winners Basingstoke Bison this Saturday (6.30pm faceoff) and home to play-off champions Guildford Flames on Sunday (6pm).

Bison were beaten in their opening two games, while Flames had a win and a loss.

“Guildford will bring a lot of fans with them, so we are expecting a really good crowd,” said Miller.