Swindon Wildcats’ Player/Coach Aaron Nell has urged his team to build some momentum ahead of the end-of-season EPL play-offs.
The Wildcats currently lie seventh in the table, but a strong finish to the campaign could yet see them claim a top-half finish.
Nell’s team host title-chasing MK Lightning on Saturday hoping to put last week’s 8-2 defeat at home to Telford Tigers firmly behind them.
“We have got a lot to make up for from last Saturday, to ourselves and to our supporters,” he told the Swindon Advertiser.
“We were really poor but Telford were really good as well – they showed why they are top of the league.
“It’s a great test for us now against Milton Keynes. We need to come out on Saturday and be a lot better than we were last weekend, and I think we can do that.
“We are a decent team – we just need to get some consistency now. There’s not long left until the play-offs start and we need to be getting on a roll now.
“We still have a fair few fixtures left, so we have got a good opportunity to do that and it starts on Saturday night.”
Telford boss Tom Watkins is revelling in his side’s gruelling run of seven games in two weeks as he chases the club’s second league title in three years.
A quirk of the fixture computer has given Telford two midweek encounters at a key point of the season, both against Hull, who they beat 6-3 on Wednesday night.
The Tigers face Basingstoke Bison and Peterborough Phantoms this weekend and Watkins is happy with the busy schedule.
He said: “I think right now I would rather us be playing games, rather than training. We know where we are as a team and what we do well.
“We’re playing good hockey and of course there are little things that we can try to adjust or make the guys aware of.
“But training at the moment is about getting the legs moving, staying in the groove and getting the little things right that make us hard to play against.
“Repetition is the key for us, where we are at the moment. I’m happy that we’re playing a few games – it’s good for us.
“Of course, it’s made harder when we play two top teams like Basingstoke and Peterborough, as they are both on a good streak at the moment.
“The guys need to be prepared to play with commitment, be prepared to battle and do the little things that make such a big difference.
“It’s great that our best players in these games are our best players, and they make everybody a little bit better.”
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Friday
MK Lightning v Basingstoke Bison
Saturday
Basingstoke Bison v Telford Tigers
Hull Pirates v Bracknell Bees
Peterborough Phantoms v Guildford Flames
Swindon Wildcats v MK Lightning
Sunday
Bracknell Bees v Hull Pirates
Sheffield Steeldogs v MK Lightning
Telford Tigers v Peterborough Phantoms
(Image permission: Tony Sargent)
