SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell says there is added motivation to win the NIHL Cup after the club’s play-off campaign came to such an abrupt end.

Nell and his troops crashed out of the end of season play-offs on a technicality, after naming an ineligible player on their bench for their home clash with Peterborough Phantoms at the end of March.

Subsequently the club’s 4-2 win was switched to a 5-0 defeat, which ultimately ended their play-off push.

Swindon will travel to Sheffield for the opening leg of the National Cup final tonight, before welcoming the Steeldogs to the Link Centre on Sunday evening to conclude the tie.

After the disappointing nature in which their play-off hopes were ended, Nell admits there his side are eager to please by claiming a cup win.

“After what happened, we are just happy that we have got this week to play and hopefully we can be successful,” he said.

“It was a very disappointing couple of weeks where we weren’t playing but we need to bounce back now and try to end the year on a high, by winning the cup.”

Despite the lengthy lay-off, Nell says the rest will have done his troops the world of good as they plot a way past Sheffield.

Nell also revealed that Toms Rutkis will not feature for his side, but confirmed that Joe Hazeldine will be back, fresh from winning gold at the World U18s Championships.

“It could go both ways, we were on the ice last night and we were on the ice again last week but we have had a long season and it was good to get a little bit of time off,” he added.

“We just need to be ready. I watched them on Saturday in Coventry, they’re a good team and they’ve got three good lines.

“They play hard, so it is going to be a tough two games and I know they play well at home. We need to try and keep it tight tonight.

“They play quite a similar way to us, they are aggressive, and they like to play fast. They move the puck well and have good depth, so we are similar.

“Winning their league would not have been easy so it is going to be a good week of hockey.”