SWINDON Wildcats coach Aaron Nell is hopeful that tonight's clash against Manchester Phoenix will not be the last between the two sides.

The Cats romped to a landslide 11-3 victory at Silver Blades ice rink in Widnes, making light work of the English Premier League’s bottom side.

Manchester are currently beset by financial problems off the ice and general manager Neil Morris has admitted the club could be forced to fold should no new funding come in.

Swindon are due to travel to the Phoenix again next Sunday, although at his stage, there is no guarantee that match will even take place.

Nell praised the efforts made by Manchester to fight off their woes and is optimistic that a permanent solution can be found.

“I thought the support was great for Manchester. It’s a tough game to play in but it was a great turnout and hopefully Manchester keep on going,” said Nell.

“I think they have been set a deadline for Tuesday, so hopefully something will come up and keep them alive for the rest of the season.

“It’s not an easy situation but we just had to make sure we came here and won, so it was a good night and we had some good performances.”

Swindon actually found themselves in arrears inside 90 seconds in Widnes when Myles Dacres broke the deadlock for Phoenix but goals from captain Jan Kostal, Floyd Taylor, Sam Bullas and Toms Rutkis soon turned things around as the visitors led 4-1 at the end of the first period.

Tomasz Malasinski, new signing Robin Kovar and two more strikes from Taylor pushed Swindon’s lead to seven goals heading into the final period, where Kostal and Rutkis each added their seconds to complement an effort from Michael Stratford, while Ben Wood and Dacres kept the Phoenix scoreboard ticking over too.

Nell was pleased with the performances of the younger players in his squad, such as back-up netminder Michael Crisp, and is encouraged by the performance of Czech import Kovar, who only signed for the club on Thursday after leaving Manchester.

“The young boys were good and it was good to see Floyd and Toms get a few goals,” said Nell.

“It was good to see Crispy get 60 minutes too. He works ever so hard every day in practice, so it was good for him to get some ice-time.

“Robin has been good and there is a lot more to come. I like him and Tomasz’ play.

"They have got a connection there and I think they are going to be big for us come play-off time.”