SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell admits that players of Tom Rutkis’ ilk are what he is looking to build his next side around.

The young Brit has become the first summer addition to Nell’s roster for next season, signing on a one-year deal as the Cats look to rebuild following a disappointing end to their EPL campaign as they exited in the play-off group stages.

MK Lightning went on to lift the play-off trophy in Coventry last Sunday and with Nell already looking ahead to an assault on next season, he is pleased to announce Rutkis as one of his first additions, joining the likes of Stevie Lyle, Stevie Whitfield and Thomasz Malasinski, who are already on long-term deals.

“He is one of the best young players in the country and we are happy to build our team around someone like Toms,” said Nell.

“He has got a lot of improvement to do but so do all young players and I think next year is a very important year for him.

“He plays with a lot of speed and he does have a good offensive instinct and he goes to the net.

“That sounds really simple but there are not many young players that go to the net like him and this might sound like a bad comment but he scores a lot of ugly goals and that’s what you want.

“He is the type of player that we want to have in our team and someone who wants to move on and improve and hopefully he can have a big year and help us next season.”

Nell endured an injury-hit campaign in his first full season in charge of the Link Centre club and with Rutkis also being sidelined with a knee problem during the course of 2016-17, the Cats coach is hopingto have more luck in that department next season.

“We’re probably going to have the same size roster, give or take one or two, and injuries are something you have got to prepare for,” he added.

“Sadly, we’re not in a situation, like a Premier League football team, where you can have stacks of players.”