COREY McEwen hopes his Saturday night heroics can set him up for a grandstand finish to Swindon Wildcats’ season.

Forward McEwen netted an overtime winner for the Cats in their 3-2 victory at home to Guildford Flames in the English Premier League, although he failed to get on the scoresheet the following night as they went down 5-4 at Peterborough Phantoms.

The 23-year-old has struggled to consistently find his top level for Swindon since arriving from Canada last summer and even had time off in early 2016 due to a niggling injury.

With Cats player-coach and fellow forward Aaron Nell currently sidelined through injury himself, McEwen is likely to get additional time on the ice in their upcoming run of fixtures and he is hopeful that his Flames strike can be the catalyst for a run of good individual form.

“I have got to try to prove myself and do the best I can do,” said McEwen “Obviously I want to play more and I want a big role on the team, but it’s been a season of ups and downs for me personally, so I haven’t actually got that role yet, but hopefully in the future, I can.

“Scoring a big goal always helps. We will just see how it goes. Aaron is a player-coach and wants to play a lot too, so everyone has just got to keep proving themselves and working hard.

“With him being off for a bit, it means that certain players, me included, have to step up. I think he is going to be back this week at some point, though, so we will just see what happens.”

McEwen admits that his winner against Guildford even took him by surprise as he had remained on the bench throughout the final period of Saturday’s clash.

The Cats looked on course to win the match in normal time, only to be pegged back with three minutes to go, and once it was certain the game would go to overtime, McEwen was the first man Nell turned to.

“It was my first shift in about half-an-hour as I didn’t get on in the third period, but I love playing three-on-three - that’s my game. I’m quick and I can go around guys,” added McEwen.

“When there’s ten minutes left in the final period and you haven’t got a shift yet, then you think you’re probably not going to get back out there.

“We were winning 2-1 and Aaron kept putting the guys back out there who were doing well and keeping them going, but I am always ready to play three-on-three.”