NEW Swindon Wildcats head coach Aaron Nell was pleased to put a whirlwind week behind him following Sunday night’s 5-1 defeat to Basingstoke Bison.

Nell ended his first weekend as a player/coach with two points, a tally he would have taken when he sat at the press conference on Friday morning to announce the departure of Stevie Lyle and his new role.

The home win on Saturday against Guildford looked to have taken its toll on the team who are still adapting to life without Lyle, but Nell insists his side will only get better.

"It was a tough one," said Nell.

"We put an awful lot into last night and we have had a problem all year playing on a Sunday.

"They have been playing three or four years together and are very settled and we are very unsettled.

"We have had a whirlwind week and at 10am on Friday morning I would have taken two points from the weekend.

“It has been a crazy month with all the changes, Miroslav (Zalesak) leaving, Sami (Ryhanen) on his notice and Stevie (Lyle) leaving, but we can calm down now and we will get better.

"We've learnt a lot and in that dressing room we stick together and we're going to get better every week.

“This is a tough rink to play in and they haven’t lost here all year."

Sam Bullas and the third line stunned the home fans when he scored in the third minute at Planet Ice.

However, that was as good as it got for the visitors as Joe Greener and Stuart Mogg put the hosts in front before the end of the first period and further goals from Ciaran Long, Shaun Thompson and Miroslav Vantroba completed the comfortable win for the home side.

Nell was full of praise for his third line and says they could be key to Swindon’s success this season.

“The third line were unbelievable tonight,” he added.

“In the last six weeks they have grown and got better and they could have played against anyone tonight.

“If they play like they did in the first period then we are going to be successful.

“That is something we have never really had - a strong third line. With Corey on there and Bully has been better, they deserve all the credit they are getting right now.”