A RIGOROUS schedule of three games in four days took its toll on Swindon Wildcats over the weekend as they lost both games of their English Premier League double-header.

A home contest with Basingstoke Bison and a trip to Peterborough Phantoms followed the Link Centre side’s superb 5-1 victory over Bracknell Bees at the Hive on Thursday night, and Ryan Aldridge’s team were left empty-handed after a 4-2 loss to the Bison and a 7-3 reverse at Peterborough.

And head coach Aldridge outlined how the strain of such a congested fixture list had affected his roster by the end of last night’s defeat in Cambridgeshire.

“The boys are absolutely shattered,” he said.

“Three games in four days is a lot to take and we were short-benched tonight which didn’t help.

“Then there was the referee who didn’t go with us and it all added up.”

Cats put up a spirited display on Saturday at the Link, rallying well after falling behind to two Ollie Bronnimann goals early on.

Lee Richardson pulled oneback from close range after good work by James Knight, giving the hosts a way back into the contest.

However, those hopes were dashed when import Mindaugas Kieras restored the Hampshire outfit’s two-goal advantage, and although Josef Liska found the net, it would only prove to be a consolation as Callum Best rounded off the scoring for the Bison.

Aldridge was happy with the performance of his side, but felt Cats lacked a little discipline in their back line.

“We played pretty well on Saturday, but their third goal and their fourth goal we could have prevented,” he said.

“We made silly little mistakes which cost us the game.

“We did open them up a few times and maybe should have scored more, and we missed an open net near the end but we played well.”

By Sunday, however, with forwards James Knight and Jamie Hayes absent through swollen ankles and a wrist injury respectively, Swindon were starting to feel the strain.

And Aldridge believes the officials in charge of the clash with Peterborough didn’t do his tired and depleted side any favours.

“We didn’t get a few decisions and a couple of goals came when the referee and the linesmen didn’t get out of the way of the puck on the boards and they broke and scored,” he said.

“We were short-benched which made it difficult, and it was frustrating because we outshot them as well.

“But there were too many turnovers and we didn’t use the puck effectively at times.”

Egidijus Bauba, Sam Bullas and Richardson fired the Wildcats goals, which could offer only scant reward for a difficult evening.

But Aldridge is confident he can pick his troops up to resume their pursuit of a play-off spot by the time next weekend’s EPL action comes around.

“Spirits are a bit down and they have to be got up again for next week, but I’m sure they will,” he said. “We have to focus on the play-offs and this is the team until the end of the season so we know where we’re going.”