Invicta Dynamos start their new season against Solent Devils - the side that ended their last one.

The Mos didn’t get much change out of the Devils last season - suffering an 11-4 aggregate defeat in the play-offs after failing to register a win against them in the regular season - but head coach Karl Lennon has worked hard on improving his roster over the summer.

Lennon’s men will certainly be up against it on their first weekend back in NIHL South Division 1 as Saturday’s trip to Solent is followed by a visit to Gillingham from last season’s all-conquering Streatham Redhawks.

Lennon said: “I am really excited about this team and this season but if we are going to do anything we need to beat those teams and that has to be our ambition for both games over the weekend.

“We have a tricky trip to navigate on Saturday at Solent. We know the rink there is different to everywhere else in the division and it plays into their hands most definitely.

“We did a poor job last year of converting performances there. We played well in spells during those games but we never got a result against them all of last season. There is definitely a lingering negativity over how we played there last year.

“We were there three times, and played them six times on all occasions, and for me that is not acceptable from our part - we need to be better than that.”

Lennon’s men warmed up for the season with a tough double-header against NIHL side Romford Raiders - a side playing a level above.

The international players on the Raiders roster helped make a difference, scoring 12 of their 16 goals. They won 10-4 in Gillingham and followed it up with a 6-1 win in Essex to claim the pre-season honours.

Lennon will hope to have six of the players who missed those games back available for their opening weekend.

He said: “The ambition from last weekend was to prepare right for that so that we came in hot.

“They had two wins over the weekend, home to Milton Keynes and then away at Swindon and won both and so they will be confident and we need to now make our start.

“The game has extra importance because it’s not just the league, it counts towards the cup as well, both on Saturday and Sunday. We have got a big start for us ahead.

“We didn’t beat Solent home or away, we had one shootout at home and got a point for that but it was a loss, we didn’t win the shootout.

“I know the boys are focused on that first game and starting strong and we go there with a complete focus on what we need to do.”

The Redskins won the league title, the cup and the national play-offs last season and come to Gillingham for a 5.45pm face-off on Sunday.

Lennon said: “They have had some big success in recent years and they have also recruited a lot of strong players.

“It will be a huge challenge for us in the first weekend but we won’t be shy of it, we can’t wait to go head to head with them, and we have been champing at the bit all summer ready to go.

“The pressure that we get as a club comes from the pressure we put on ourselves and the pressure we have from the past, after having some success. That’s a privilege and we must embrace it as best we can.

“I have no doubt the players we have in this line-up this year take on that responsibility and own it and that is probably what I am more excited about than anything else, this level of professionalism I am seeing from them, it is spot-on and I am really happy with that.”