AARON Nell is hoping that Lady Luck will contradict the fixture list and one of the toughest pairs of fixtures on paper this season could actually hand Swindon Wildcats their first four-point weekend of the current campaign.

Keeping with that topsy-turvy theme, the Wildcats are away from home this Saturday as they face a daunting trip to English Premier League table-toppers Milton Keynes Lightning – led by former Swindon head coach and current Great Britain boss Pete Russell. They then host third-placed Basingstoke Bison on Sunday.

The Link Centre men, who are currently fifth in the table, are yet to clinch a maximum point-haul this term, but player-coach Nell is wondering whether the quality of their weekend opposition will have a positive effect on his team and lift the Wildcats to new heights.

“You couldn’t ask for a tougher weekend but maybe this will be the one where we get our first four-point weekend,” said Nell.

“MK are a very good team and I think at the start of the season, you could see that they were one of the teams that could be the frontrunners.

“They’ve got a good coach in Pete and from top to bottom, they’ve got a good side. The players that they’ve brought in this season have all been upgrades.

“But we had a bad result against them (a 5-2 loss on September 30) and we need to put that right. We’re going there hoping for two points.

“We also got beat quite heavily at Basingstoke last weekend but they’re a different team away from their own rink and we’ve got to try and use the home advantage we’ll have on Sunday.

“They’ve kept the same group of players together for the last three or four years – they’re all on the same page.

“But it’s up to us to pull together and try and put together a 60-minute game.

“We’ve got Stevie (Lyle) back now too and everybody knows how things are going to work, so we’re looking to just get on with our season and concentrate on trying to get that four-point weekend.”

The Wildcats will be looking to buck the trend when they make the trip to Buckinghamshire on Saturday evening – the Link Centre side have only won twice away from home this season in seven attempts.