IMPORT Max Birbraer says he has a renewed sense of desire as Swindon Wildcats approach their season opener with Milton Keynes Thunder on Saturday night.

The forward featured prominently last season, where he iced 50 times, scoring 47 points, for the Link Centre side.

With the arrivals of Chris Jones and Sam Zajac, Birbraer thinks the Swindon management have set down a clear marker on what they want to achieve.

Last term, Aaron Nell’s side crashed out during the play-offs and with the league’s re-structure, 36-year-old Birbraer sees no reason why the club can’t go one better this year.

“I’m actually probably more excited than I was last year because it feels like we have a lot of unfinished business from last year,” said Birbraer, who arrived last summer from Telford. “I felt like we had everything we needed to bring a trophy to this town, but unfortunately, we couldn’t come up trumps.

“We had horrendous injury trouble last year and this is another chance, it’s nice to wake up with a fresh chance.

“This year we have an even bigger chance because we are in a slightly different league.

“With the team the ownership have put together, they’re not saying we should win a trophy, they’re saying we need to win a trophy to get back what they’ve put in.”

Along with the league shuffle, the number of imports teams are allowed has also changed with the figure being reduced from five to two.

Along with Jan Kostal, Birbraer fills those spots and says he is looking to repay the faith showed by player-coach Nell. “It’s exciting because someone has put their trust in you, obviously there are only two imports and it is an honour to be back,” he added.

“I find that I play well under pressure so I guess it is good for me. As soon as we establish what role I am going to play then we go forward.

“Hopefully I can do my job and I am confident that I can. Potentially we are going to get a lot of minutes.

“We have four really strong lines and Aaron’s approach to the meetings is that we are going to let everyone play.

“We are going to use our depth against teams and hopefully that will be another ace in our deck.”