Deeside Dragons coach Lol Paul delivered a tongue-lashing to his side after Saturday’s 5-5 draw with Bradford Bulldogs – and has warned of a “big shake-up” in training this week.

The Dragons found themselves trailing 5-2 after 34 minutes in Bradford, before a late fightback saved them from defeat to the Laidler Conference strugglers.

The point still keeps them in contention for the overall league title, but with in-form Widnes the visitors to Chester Road this Saturday (7pm), Paul is ready to make changes.

He said: “Saturday’s performances was unacceptable. I’ve told the lads that I will be breaking all the lines up in training and having a big shake-up.

“A few of the guys are maybe a bit too comfortable and I can’t have that. At the start of the season, there was a feeling of apprehension, but now some of them think they’ll be playing for the rest of the season.

“Any acceptance of defeat is something I can’t put up with. I am used to being a winner and if they accept defeat that easily, I am not going to be very happy at all.

“The guys won’t be wearing their line jerseys in training on Wednesday night, so we’ll take a good look at them, then work on our systems on Thursday.”

Filip Supa was Deeside’s saviour with two goals on Saturday night, alongside further strikes from James Parsons, Alex Roberts and Michael Jones.

The Dragons did, in fact, outshoot their opponents by a remarkable 72 shots to 32 – but that was no consolation to Paul.

He added: “Their netminder was fantastic, but we should have blown them away. Bradford were really up for the game and you can see with some teams, that from the first puck drop, they’re moving faster.

“Filip Supa and Marc Lovell were the only shining lights for us. What this does is make the visit of Widnes a huge game for us, and we’ll be working hard on the boys in training.

“The lines will be getting changed for that match.”

The Dragons are next in action on on Saturday when they host rivals Widnes Wild, who currently occupy third spot in the league, at Deeside Ice Rink (7pm).