SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell was left dismayed with the lack of fight shown by his side as they were hammered 6-0 away to Telford Tigers.

Having missed out on their chance to grasp a Challenge Cup semi-final spot the night before, Nell was expecting a reaction from his troops.

However, it was another flat showing as Telford took the lead in the 35th minute through skipper Jason Silverthorn.

Two minutes of madness at the start of the third period then saw the game put beyond the Wildcats as Daniel Rose, Milan Kolena and Michal Satek all netted.

With Swindon ending with Michael Crisp in goal, Daniel Scott and Kolena’s second completed the rout and left Nell questioning a lot of his players.

“We weren’t very good,” he said.

“People have got to take responsibility. We are short, we’ve got injuries and everyone has got to step up.

“You can’t just expect everyone to keep on doing the same as what they were doing before, players have got to step up and be accountable.

“We can’t just come out flat like that.

“We had a great opportunity against Basingstoke to go through in a cup competition and we come out flat.

“Tonight, we are playing a team where a lot of their players haven’t been paid for four to six weeks and all our players get paid on time and they come out more desperate - that’s not right.

“We had a great opportunity to get a win and make up for Saturday and we just blew it and left Stevie Lyle out to dry and it is not acceptable.

“We had a good 10 minutes in the second period. They were there for the taking tonight but fair play to their players, they have gone through a lot and they have carried on.

“If we want to score goals, we have got to get to the dirty areas of the ice.

“We’ve been way too nice to play against and it’s not right.

“If we want to be successful, we need to give more, everyone needs to give more and that is what we are going to have to do moving forward.”

The game ended on a sour note as Telford’s Ricky Plant received a match penalty for a hit on Kyle Smith, leaving the Cats youngster needing help off the ice but Nell is unsure of the extent of the injury at this stage.

“Kyle is in pain, I don’t know how bad it is going to be,” he added.

“The doctors will see him tomorrow.

“I saw it and I can’t really remember what happened to be honest but it is obviously a painful hit and we’ll have to assess it.”