Nell: There was no life at the end, we can't just quit

Swindon Wildcats head coach Aaron Nell passed a damning verdict on his side's performance, as they slipped to a 4-1 defeat to MK Lightning on home ice, despite leading the tie going into the final period.

A late MK surge saw the visitor notch goals in quick succession, deflating the confidence of the Wildcats and enabling the balance of the tie to swing. 

Passing frank assessment on the tie, Nell said at the full-time buzzer: "There was no life (at the end). We go two down but we can't just quit. We're not going to win every game we play but we have got to work hard for 60 minutes and I don't think we did that tonight.

"We had a good first 40 minutes especially in the first period I thought we were excellent. They (MK) gave all they had got but we came back into that first and we were great. The second period we got our big goal, but in the last they got two quickly and we changed a few things that maybe we shouldn't have," said Nell.

"They (MK) were a desperate team tonight. Last week we won because we wanted it more than them and this week they won because they wanted it more. 

"They got two lucky goals and I think we panicked. Just because Stevie Lyle has let in a goal we can't panic we just need to stick to it (our game plan). I think they just outworked us tonight and when we went two goals down that was it we just didn't really try and it was pretty disappointing," Nell added.

Tactics played their part in the eventual switching of momentum during the tie, something which Nell later admitted perhaps could have been avoided.

"MK changed it up a bit in the second period and we tried to match that, but maybe we should have just stuck to what we are good at. But it was tough, we didn't really get any chances after they went up and that is disappointing," said Nell.

The defeat to MK comes on the first weekend of the season where Wildcats have not had to play on the Saturday prior. This alteration to rhythm, Nell conceded, is something that does affect ice hockey teams.

"I know it doesn't make sense but it is tough to not have that game on a Saturday, but that is what it is. For 40 minutes we matched them and definitely in the first period we were the better team - it was one of the best first periods we've played all year," said Nell.

"We're not going to go 4-0 up every game, like we did last Saturday, so we just have to show a little bit of character and come back, but we will."

Wildcats were without one of their star imports for the evening's action, as forward Tomasz Malasinski was forced to sit out on the action after sustaining an injury the week previous.

"He (Malasinski) has got an injury. We're going to get him a scan next week. He was hurt last week but he still played. But we've seen the doctor and hopefully he will be back," said Nell.

"We missed Tomasz tonight. We were probably missing one of the top three or four players in the league in his absence, but that can't be an excuse, we just have to turn this around next week."

Nell did reserve a special mention for the performance of D-man Neil Liddiard, who put in a solid showing for Wildcats on the night.

"Lidds is a throw-back, he's been a great addition to our team and he just brings so much professionalism," said Nell.

"He's a great player. I know he's quite old and we give him a bit of stick because he's old but we want him here for a long time."

Looking ahead, Nell was keen to put the MK defeat behind him and look to next weekend, where victory could see multiple changes given how tight the EPL league currently stands.

Nell said: "If you have a big weekend you move up two or three spots. We have a massive game coming up against Hull. Hull work extremely hard and they can be a banana skin but we've got to make sure we put in a good performance and take it through into Sunday in what is a massive game against Manchester."