BRAEHEAD Clan head coach John Tripp has admitted that his team have a lot of work to do after suffering two defeats on the opening weekend of the Elite League season.

The Purple Army suffered a 3-1 reverse to MK Lightning on Saturday before losing 4-1 to Coventry Blaze at the SkyDome Arena a day later. 

Tripp, who replaced Ryan Finnerty at the Braehead Arena this summer, accepted that it was a setback but explained to Clan Radio after the game that he expects an improvement soon. 

"It's not how we thought we'd start the season," he said. 

"Am I happy about it? No. The thing is we're going to be better.

"Definitely the lack of experience had a little bit to do with it. The game yesterday, they were just plain old faster and better than us.

"We had a hard time adjusting and we tried to push back and they pushed back hard and they played really well and had a really good game. They played clean and simple and we just got away from our game. 

"Today we played better but we ended up getting into trouble and it's something we need to talk about this week.

"It wouldn't matter if we'd won the two games or lost the two games, there's always something to work on and that's something we have to do. We have to work on competing for 60 minutes. Even if we have two and a half or three lines, we have to find a way.

"It's definitely a work in progress. It's a long year, it's only two games and we've got nowehere to go but up from here."

Forward Ryan Potulny will join the Clan squad this week ahead of next weekend's double-header against Nottingham Panthers and Edinburgh Capitals, and Tripp believes his arrival will add extra quality to his roster.

"We have Ryan coming in tomorrow I believe if all goes well so that'll help as well, adding him to the lineup," he said.

"Getting him in game shape will take a little time but he's been skating every day so I think he'll be ready to go so it'll be a nice piece to add for us for the weekend."

The Canadian spoke to the travelling Purple Army fans who had made the long journey south for the weekend and underlined that their backing is appreciated ahead of more tough tests in the Elite League.

He said: "They did come for two days, it's been a long trip for both of us.

"The trip always seems a bit longer when there's a lack of success but we just said thank you for coming and for your support because when things are going bad that's when you need support the most in any situation.

"No game is going to be easy, everyone is competitive and that was shown today so we need to show a little bit more respect and be more on top of our game and ready to go before each game."