Wildcats bid to shock Flames (From Swindon Advertiser)

Wildcats bid to shock Flames

6:00am Friday 2nd December 2011 in Ice Hockey By Andy Warren

HEAD coach Ryan Aldridge is hoping Swindon Wildcats can record a long overdue victory against one of the Premier League’s big guns as they prepare to host Guildford Flames at the Link Centre tomorrow night (face-off 5.45pm).

Wildcats entertain the league leaders before travelling to the Peterborough Arena the following night to face the Phantoms, on a weekend where Aldridge is targeting the maximum four points.

“We are due a good game at home and we are also due a victory against a big team, so this weekend would be perfect for that to happen,” he told the Advertiser.

“We will need to come out flying against Guildford, and if we do we know we have a good chance of getting a win, which is pretty vital for our confidence.

“We need to start winning back to back games, and this is a great chance for us to do that.”

Swindon last hosted Guildford at the Link Centre on November 19 with the Flames coming out 2-1 winners, but Aldridge is confident it can be different this time around.

He said: “We know that when we played them last time at home we could have got more out of the game because we played well, but we know what we are capable of and we need to produce that again. I think we deserved a point at least from that match.

“I would like to think we can take two points from that game, and then our game at Peterborough is a must-win really, so we are hopeful of picking up two wins. Peterborough are a side we know we can beat, and we beat them at home last weekend, so it is vital we do it again.”

Despite securing a 5-2 victory over the Phantoms in front of a bumper crowd at the Link Centre on Saturday, Aldridge was not happy with the display, and has told his players more is required to move Wildcats up the table.

“We are not happy about where we are in the league at the moment and we need to work harder to move up the table,” he said.

“We had some new fans in the building on Saturday, and hopefully they enjoyed what they saw and will come back this week.

“I was not happy with the performance on Saturday night, so we have spoken this week about how we need to work harder and compete harder.

“We have played more games than everyone else but that does not overly concern me. We are lucky though because the pack is still very close, so we can haul ourselves up the table.”

Wildcats go into the weekend at full strength.