Everyone Active Raiders goalie Brad Windebank believes there is no reason why they cannot reach the National League finals weekend in Coventry for a second successive year.

Raiders begin their play-off quest with a home game against Telford Tigers at Romford's Sapphire Ice & Leisure Centre on Saturday (5.15pm), before travelling to Shropshire for a return meeting on Sunday.

And Windebank, who played the last two matches of the regular season as Ethan James was rested last weekend, feels the 2023 runners-up have a great chance of returning to the end-of-season showpiece.

"There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t reach Coventry for a second year running," said Windebank.

"We’ve got enough in that room to beat anyone on any given day.

"If we play our game and stick to our strengths, we have a great chance."

Leading scorer Adam Laishram was also rested for the trip to third-placed Swindon last Saturday, with Tomasz Malasinski putting the hosts ahead in the first period.

But Jake Sylvester levelled in the 36th minute, with Tjay Anderson putting Raiders 2-1 up just 84 seconds later.

And Elliott Dewey sealed a 3-1 win with an empty-net goal when Raiders were shorthanded by a slashing penalty against Callum Wells in the final two minutes of the match.

Windebank made 28 saves in a rare start, having recovered from a lengthy concussion.

"It was good to get back out there after such a long lay-off," added the former Royal Liberty pupil.

"It was nice to get back-to-back starts in games where the pressure was off us, as we had already ensured we were finishing seventh before the weekend."

Raiders took an early lead against runners-up MK Lightning on Sunday, through Brandon Ayliffe's backhand finish.

But the visitors turned things around with two goals in three and a half minutes of the middle period and went 3-1 up just as Blaho Novak was returning to the ice from the penalty box in the final session.

Windebank was withdrawn for an extra skater late on, but an empty-net goal condemned Raiders to a 4-1 defeat despite dominating the shot county 51-26.

"I was fairly satisfied with how I played across the weekend on a whole," said former GB Under-16 international Windebank.

"The boys played a great defensive game, which will help us going into the play-offs.

"But overall it was good to get some game time heading into the play-offs as you never know when you’ll be called upon."

The 21-year-old Windebank has certainly had to endure some frustrations during his senior career, with a previous knee injury ruling him out for almost an entire campaign.

The latest absence came after a collision with teammate Ashley Jackson during a game in Hull in early December, which left Windebank with a labyrinthine concussion.

But he is determined to enjoy the closing weeks of the 2023-24 campaign, adding: "It’s been a frustrating time being sidelined for such a lengthy period.

"It was an unfortunate way to get injured and even more frustrating with how long it took to get to the bottom of what was causing me issues.

"But it’s good to be back and I'm looking forward to the few weeks we have left."