SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell sees this weekend’s double-header against Peterborough Phantoms as the perfect yardstick with which to judge where his side are at ahead of the new season.

Having beaten Bracknell Bees at home last Saturday before falling to defeat on the road on Sunday night, Nell is looking for another step up from his players as preparations for National League One South crank up.

Having also dropped down a division during the close season, Peterborough Phantoms, who, like Swindon, made the play-offs last year, will be looking to be one of the big hitters in the league this term.

And, with Nell also eyeing up silverware for the Cats, he sees the upcoming games as an ideal examination of his summer recruitment policy.

“I think it will be a good benchmark for where we are at with a week to go,” he said.

“It’s important to think about us and how we go. The results are secondary right now but you always want to get that win and we were disappointed not to win last Sunday.

“You want to get into that habit of winning.

“It will be a little bit of a different game against Peterborough but they are a really good side.

“I think they’ll be right at the top of the table and they have the same aspirations as us.

“It will be a great test.

“I said to the boys after the Bracknell defeat, there is no point playing friendlies when they are easy games, we’ve got to make sure they are against tough opponents.

“I think the Bracknell weekend was a great test and this will be another really good one.”

One of those summer recruits was Chris Jones, who made 52 appearances for the Cardiff Devils last term.

The 26-year-old centre made an immediate impact at his new club, getting a brace against Bracknell last Sunday. And with Nell himself not getting his tally up and running yet, he can only see more goals coming from the side moving forward.

“They were two unbelievable goals from Chris Jones last Sunday,” he added.

“We had six different goal scorers last weekend out of seven and that is really good.

“I didn’t score and our two imports didn’t score. I see that as a positive. I know our top guys will come good, there is no doubt about that.

“If our younger guys and our support cast can chip in, like they did last weekend, we’re going to be a good team.”