NEW Swindon Wildcats boss Aaron Nell hopes his side can catch their opponents off-guard this weekend.

Nell will lead the Cats into the next batch of English Premier League fixtures less than 48 hours after taking on the role as player/coach following the shock announcement that Stevie Lyle had quit his post.

Swindon host Guildford Flames on Saturday before travelling to Basingstoke Bison 24 hours later and following a tumultuous few days at the Link Centre, it would not be surprising to see two disjointed performances.

However, Nell insists the mood in the camp is good and hopes to spring a few surprises over the weekend.

“Practice was good, everyone had a bit of jump,” said Nell, son of Cats general manager Steve Nell.

“We will see how Saturday goes. I think everyone is expecting us to fall flat on our arse. I don’t think we will, I think we will be fine.

“It’s been a crazy week and a very long week. It is what it is, we have all got to move forward.

“We have got to put Stevie, the playing and the coaching, to one side now and move forward as a club and stick together and every day we need to get better.

“Stevie did some good things. He was new like I am going to be new and he made mistakes like I am going to make mistakes. I have got to make sure I learn from my mistakes.

“I think in this league and in our team, the players have to be happy and enjoy it. That’s part of my job, to make sure that they are enjoying their hockey and we have a good time and are successful.”

Nell had taken on an assistant coach role under Lyle in the past few weeks, so will not head into his new post as a total novice.

However, he concedes he has a lot to learn when it comes to leading the side, as well as striking the balance between player and coach, and will continue to work alongside Cats bench coach Kenton Smith.

“It’s going to be an adjustment. In the last couple of weeks I have been doing a bit more of that (coaching), so it’s been a good little practice run,” said Nell.

“It’s about working hard during the week to get us all prepared. In the last couple of weeks we have been a lot more on the same page and the results have shown that.

“I’m going to work extremely hard during the week. When 5.45pm comes around, yes there’s going to be things I have to do, but a lot of the work will have been done.

“Me and Kenton will work together, I will be relying on Kenton a lot. When he comes in on a Friday we will meet and we will talk and we have got to make sure we are on the same page.

“From top to bottom, from my dad at the top to our equipment managers and our fans, we have to all be on the same page and move forward in one direction.

“Of course Stevie is going to leave a hole but we have got to cover that hole and move forward.”