I LIVE in the team house, so for Christmas I am just going home for a bit, back to see my parents in Royal Wootton Bassett.

Christmas Day is a bit different when you know you are going to be playing two days later.

You are not going to be drinking any alcohol and have an eye on not having too many sweets, because you are always thinking about the game coming up.

I think Christmas is the easier one because you just spend time with the family, but we often play New Year’s Day and that is the one where you feel like you are missing out but it is definitely worth it.

My family are pretty used to it now, but it was weird to start with when they were asking me what beer I wanted them to get in for Christmas and I had to tell them I wouldn’t be drinking.

Usually we would get a bit of time off but it would depend on the fixture schedule, but every year I have been here we have had this little break.

We come back to training on Boxing Day so it will just be a case of off-ice work trying to keep yourself sharp, but it is nice to have this break, especially with the tough run we have just had.

I feel at the end of the Telford game I was looking around and I think pretty much everyone was exhausted, so we might have struggled to keep that run going at that point.

It will just be gym work now in this break, we won’t be on the ice at all, and then it is just a case of getting your eye back in as quickly as possible and getting ready for the game.

We will be back to more than full strength when we come back from the break because of how Adam Finlinson stepped up.

A few players have really staked a claim, who maybe weren’t getting too much ice time and they have taken the opportunity.

I just want to take this opportunity to wish all Wildcats fans a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.