STEVIE Lyle says he is still going through a learning curve after his bow as Swindon Wildcats’ head coach ended in a 6-3 defeat at home to reigning play-off champions Peterborough Phantoms tonight.

Netminder Lyle has taken over from Ryan Aldridge as Cats chief for the 2015-16 season but his reign got off to the worst possible start as his side came off second best in their English Premier League opener.

The Cats found themselves 5-2 down midway through the second period at the Link Centre and so frustrated with his performance between the sticks that Lyle chose to remove himself in favour of Jordan Hedley.

Lyle admits he was caught out by the dual pressures of coaching and playing but has promised that lessons will be learned ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Telford Tigers.

“Obviously it’s not the start we wanted. Win or lose, though, we are going to stay positive and now the game’s over I am going to watch the video tonight and see where we went wrong,” said Lyle.

“I didn’t have the best of games tonight, which obviously hurts the team if your goalie is not there for you.

“It’s just a learning curve for myself. Unfortunately I was looking up at what they were doing rather than concentrating on my own job, so it’s a lesson learned for myself.

“I will take that on board and hopefully it’ll be different tomorrow.

“I did think about it (withdrawing myself) after the first period.

“We have 15 minutes break and you are trying to take it all on board, I am speaking to (assistant coach) Kenton (Smith) because he is seeing things that maybe I am not out there.

“We didn’t end up making that change and who knows, if I would have made it maybe the game would have had a different outcome.”

Lyle has not yet decided whether he will be back between the sticks come face-off in Telford tomorrow but added that he has no problem dropping himself in favour of Hedley if it is best for the team.

“I really don’t know, I’m going to watch the video tonight,” said Lyle.

“It’s about winning, it’s not about myself. If I feel I am not helping the team out and Jordan’s playing better, then he is going to play, I’ve got no qualms about that. I just want to get us on the winning track.”

Although disappointed by his team’s start to the campaign, Lyle has no doubt that the Cats will come good.

“Whenever Peterborough go on the road they always play a good solid game. They are a well-coached team and didn’t make many changes, so they all know the systems from last season,” said Lyle.

“A couple of times we were getting caught out in the wrong areas. They were letting the puck do the work, whereas we were working hard but maybe in the wrong areas.

“It was a tough opening weekend for us, we knew that but there are still another 53 games to go. I was never expecting to win 54 games.”