RYAN Aldridge has called for the Swindon Wildcats to “man up” and not let their Challenge Cup semi-final humbling at Manchester Phoenix derail the rest of their season.

The Cats were sent crashing out of the competition last night after slipping to an embarrassing 10-5 second leg defeat at the Altrincham Ice Dome, losing 13-8 on aggregate.

Swindon still have a hefty chunk of English Premier League fixtures remaining as they look to book a high play-off seeding, starting against Phoenix at the Link Centre on Saturday.

Head coach Aldridge says Cats must recover quickly from this loss and that it is up to players to decide how the rest of this season pans out.

“It depends how we bounce back now,” said Aldridge.

“We’ve got a big game on Saturday against them and it can two ways. We can shut it down and fold for the rest of the year or we can man up and be counted.

“It’s not for me, the guys have to have a chat and come together and see how we can go on for the rest of the year.

“At the end of the day it’s up to them, the leaders have got to become leaders, it’s out of my hands.

“It’s tough because it’s the cup and it meant so much to the club but we have to move on now and leave it behind otherwise we could be taking it into the rest of the year and we have to clear our heads from that.

“We have to manage it in the right way. I could easily have gone in and ranted and raved but the scary thing is we could lose it for the rest of the year and that can’t happen.”