RYAN Aldridge admits he is struggling to understand the displays of Swindon Wildcats after witnessing his side give Jekyll and Hyde performances at the weekend.

Wildcats racked up two points in disposing of Telford 5-2 on Saturday but were steamrollered 7-1 in another EPL-Cup fixture at Slough last night.

And the head coach says questions must be asked as to why a positive result was followed by a such a negative scoreline 24 hours later.

“I think against Telford we played for 60 minutes for the first time all year. The boys did all the little things right and stuck to the gameplan and we ended up winning the hockey game, but tonight was a complete and utter turnaround,” said Aldridge.

“Our guys just didn’t show up. It was probably the worst we’ve played all year.

“Some people looked like they didn’t want to be here and I’ve got a very bitter taste in my mouth with a few players.

“Tonight’s the worst performance we’ve put in and I’ve got to asking myself questions about why guys are performing on a Saturday night and not a Sunday night.”

Missing Finnish import Juha Silvander due to injury, Swindon got off to the best possible start when youngster Floyd Taylor slammed past prone netminder Kamil Jarina for his first goal of the season (6.46).

But Slough hit back with two goals inside three minutes, the first coming when Matt Towalski was allowed to dive in from the left and tap past Stevie Lyle (13.18).

Moments later ex-Swindon forward Lee Richardson fed Darius Pliskauskas just inside the blueline and the import lashed a lightning wristshot high into the net (15.40).

That advantage was increased on the powerplay at the start of the second, as Dan Davies made the most of Stevie Whitfield’s hooking penalty - Swindon’s only misdemeanour of the night - to blast beyond Lyle (23.19).

Aldridge was unfortunate not to pull a goal back from a tight angle before Jonas Hoog and Sam Bullas both found themselves in the wars, and Wildcats’ luck was summed up when Sam Smith’s piledriver was saved by Jarina with his shoulder.

The hosts killed the game off within nine third-period minutes, with the withdrawals of Hoog and Bullas due to minor knocks only adding to Swindon’s misery.

Alan Lack’s close-range effort (46.04) was followed by a second forTowalski, who was left free in front of the net to send an emphatic slapshot past Lyle (49.00).

Ciaran Long added number six from Pliskauskas (52.20) and Cameron McGiffin before Pliskauskas completed the rout with a wonderful solo goal.

The Lithuanian veteran melted through the Wildcats defence courtesy of some terrific stick work and slotted neatly home to round off the victory (58.45).

On Saturday, Swindon defeated a bolstered Telford side emphatically at the Link Centre.

The Tigers had made the high-profile signings of Timo Kuuluvainen, Adam Walker and James Pease in the lead-up to the clash, but their hosts were still too strong.

With Aldridge on bench-coaching duty, Henri Sandvik (10.02) and Smith (16.32) sent Wildcats into a 2-0 lead before Jaroslav Kruzik pulled one back in the second period (22.00).

Some 42 seconds later Smith grabbed his second and Sandvik did the same at 31.22 to make it 4-1.

Marek Mikusovic replied at 36.04 and after Swindon forward Ryan Watt was given a 10-minute bin (43.03), Adam Harding completed the scoring (50.47).