SWINDON head coach Ryan Aldridge is wary of the threat posed by Sheffield despite the lowly league position of Andre Payette’s side.

Wildcats travel to iceSheffield tomorrow for the first of two weekend away games and Aldridge believes the Steeldogs have hit on a formula that has worked for them of late.

The South Yorkshire side had been on a wretched run of nine consecutive EPL defeats but they improbably beat Manchester and Basingstoke in their last two games.

“Sheffield have made a couple of changes and I’m sure there’s a few people in the team there who are under pressure,” said Aldridge.

“So they are playing hungry, like we have had to play a few times this year. When you play hungry you go that little bit harder and we’ve got to be prepared for them to be like that.

“It’s a tough building to play in and we’ve got to be prepared to work from the start, there’s no doubt about it.”

Sunday sees Swindon make another lengthy trip, this time to Telford, the basement battlers who have lured veteran netminder Barry Hollyhead out of retirement to provide temporary injury cover.

Hollyhead’s recruitment is aimed at stopping an awful recent record that has seen the Shropshire side let in an avalanche of goals.

“I think their goalkeeper’s not been too well and they have had a backup in for the last couple of games, and he’s obviously been struggling,” added Aldridge.

“I’m sure Hollyhead has been playing some kind of hockey, and again, it’s a game we can’t take lightly.”

Reflecting on the 5-3 victory over league leaders Basingstoke at the Link Centre on Wednesday, Aldridge said he was delighted with the vast majority of the display.

“The first period we didn’t stick to the gameplan and it cost us, but then we regrouped in the first period break and worked from there really,” he said.

“We came from 2-0 down and I think the guys showed good character, and especially after losing two games we knew we had to bounce back.

“They were hungry for the points as well as they had also lost their last two games.

“But I thought we were outstanding, especially in the third period I thought we did exactly what was asked of us.”