The Kirkcaldy squad will board a bus at 5.30 a.m on Saturday morning for the long road trip to Stranraer, before boarding a ferry for the crucial double-header against both Dundalk teams.

Flyers coach Todd Dutiaume admitted that the travel could give his side problems, but with injured stars Steven Lynch and Jamie Wilson set for a return, his aim is to return with maximum points.

"If we can come out of this weekend with full points I'll be really pleased with where we're sitting in the Celtic league," the Canadian said.

"It's a big ask but we've got close to our full line-up back. It's been a hard month on the guys because we've been playing with a limited staff.

"We've been asking a lot, especially from our centre men and d-men, and our goaltender's been a lot busier than normal.

Hopefully we've pulled through this spate of injuries we've had."

On the return of assistant manager Lynch, Dutiaume added: "It's been great having a level-head on the bench, but the main reason we brought him here was for his ability on the ice.

"Whether we get one or 20 shifts out of him in Ireland, it's a real positive for our team to have him back."

This will be Flyers first weekend trip to Ireland since Mark Morrison took his side to Belfast in a BNL/Elite League crossover match four years ago.

"It's exciting and promises to be a lot of fun — and so it should be, that's what hockey is all about," Dutiaume said.

Flyers travel-weary stars will start with a match against the Latvian Hawks on Saturday evening before facing Dundalk Bulls in the same rink on Sunday afternoon.

Dutiaume expects to face a stronger Latvian side than the one that was comfortably beaten in Fife last Saturday.

"They were missing three or four of their better players, which was a little disappointing from our perspective," he said.

"They will likely be at full strength this weekend so we know it will be a lot tougher.

"Our guys have never played in this rink before either so we won't know what to expect.

"If we come out and play there's no reason why we shouldn't win these games but we've been a little inconsistent lately.

"I put that down to injury and tiredness."

Flyers are finding victories a lot tougher to come by this season, and Dutiaume is relishing the genuine challenge his team faces in winning silverware.

"Three years ago the league was a foregone conclusion by now but we're sitting in second or third place and that's despite hardly dropping any points.

"It must be interesting for the fans to not always see Flyers name at the top of the league and know we'll have to battle to March to win this thing."