JOE Baird believes it’s ‘make or break’ time for Wildcats as they look to ignite their stop-start EPL season.

Swindon suffered a devastating loss to Peterborough on Sunday when they conceded with a second to play and then were sunk 4-3 in overtime.

It was Wildcats’ seventh overtime loss out of seven this season, and the sixth time in such games that they have held the lead before ultimately going on to lose.

With a 3-0 advantage at Planet Ice in the second period, Ryan Aldridge’s men looked safe and sound, but Peterborough’s comeback left the visitors stunned.

And D-man Baird says that the Link Centre side must now respond to restore impetus into their season-long chase for the play-offs.

“It was a game we were totally in control of at 3-0,” he said.

“We took some penalties, some which were penalties and some which weren’t penalties and they pulled it back with powerplay goals.

“I think we played really well as a team, it was a character effort fighting against some suspect calls and it was just one of those things.

“There were rebounds, the goalkeeper was making saves, there was an open net - we had tons of chances to win the game and it just wasn’t our night. It’s the story of our season.

“It’s make or break for us now, we either respond this weekend and come back and play as hard as that without the penalties against us, or we’ll go the other way and struggle.”

Swindon are up against Peterborough again at the Link Centre on Saturday (5.45pm) and this will be followed by a trip to Altrincham Ice Dome to take on Manchester on Sunday (5.30pm).

Head coach Ryan Aldridge has moved to raise his players’ spirits for the coming games by stating that there were aspects of last weekend he was delighted with.

“I thought everyone played well (on Sunday) and on the third line Floyd (Taylor) had an unbelievable weekend on his first real weekend of playing,” said Aldridge.

“His brother (Loris Taylor) played great as well and I think that whole line did, so you’ve got to take the positives out of it.

“We’ve just got to find a way to win tight games and not take powerplays and penalties, especially for flicking the puck over the boards.”

For this Saturday’s home game against Peterborough, Wildcats are running their ‘Kids Go Free’ promotion.