Nell lauds winning formula of Wildcats' hard and unselfish performance

Swindon Wildcats' head coach Aaron Nell had only been out of the hospital less than 24 hours, having stitches removed from a deep facial wound sustained playing against Sheffield. Taking back to the ice he helped his side see out a vital 3-2 victory over Milton Keynes Lightning.

Speaking to Total Sport following the final buzzer, Nell was full of praise for the approach and attitude of his side.

"It was a great win, Milton Keynes are a good team and we played extremely hard. It was a massive two points," Nell began.

The Wildcats were without a few of their core personnel, including experienced netminder Stevie Lyle along with D-men Callum Buglass and Matt Selby.

"When we're short we're sometimes a little bit better, and it's just about working hard. If we work hard and work smart then we've always got a chance of winning the game," said Nell.

The headlines were grasped by Italian/Canadian import Carlo Finucci, who dazzled the Link Centre by putting away a hat-trick of finishes, much to the glee of the head coach.

"Carlo had a great game. He's back to the level he was when he first came here, his last five games he's been unbelievable. If he can carry that on for the rest of the season we have a big chance of doing something special," said Nell.

Critiquing the all round game play, Nell said: "when we have good defence we get good chances offensively and we always know that teams are going to come at us, especially when we're winning a game. If we play smart we'll get those chances.

"When you've got Carlo and Hoogy going down on a two-on-one the most likely thing is it's going to be a goal. We have had problems with holding leads and we just stuck to it and were unselfish, and that's so important.

"We've got a good goaltender, we've got a good offence and when we play good team defence we're a very tough team to play. And when we play with speed and intensity teams struggle against us. When we don't play hard we get intimidated because we're just not going," Nell added.

The Wildcats were rewarded with their victory after holding tight and ensuring Lightning's star import Frantisek Bakrlik recieved as little of the puck as possible.

Nell explained: "It's about knowing who is on the ice, and that's very important. Against Guildford it was Ozolins, you have to know where he is at all times. And Bakrlik (Milton Keynes) is perhaps one of the most dangerous players in the league, when he's on he's unstoppable, so you have to play hard on him and not let him do what he wants."

With a week off the ice, the head coach is now looking forward to rising back to full fitness, after admitting Wednesday night's encounter took him some time to get into.

"I feel a bit rusty. I know that sounds strange but you have a week off and you lose quite a bit. But it was good to get back in the game and with a couple more practices before Saturday I'll feel a lot better," said Nell.

Swindon Wildcats are back in action this Saturday when they welcome Peterborough Phantoms to the Swindon Ice Arena. Face off 5.45pm.