SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell does not believe his side to be under any additional pressure heading into the new season despite their double trophy-winning heroics of last term.

The Cats ended a lengthy wait for silverware in 2017-18 by winning both the NIHL Cup and Autumn Trophy.

That has swelled expectation at the Link Centre that Swindon can once again be at the forefront for the battle for honours once the new campaign begins in two weeks’ time.

The Cats kick-started the countdown to the new season with their official launch event on Sunday, and although optimistic his side can be amongst the leading contenders, Nell does not think that will be an added burden on his players.

“It was a great end to last season and we want to push on now and try to improve on what we did. This is a fun time of the year and we can’t wait to get started,” said Nell.

“I don’t really think there is any more pressure on us because there was a lot of pressure last year too.

“It is good to have pressure because if you don’t have pressure, then you are not doing very well. We have an expectation on ourselves and I know the players want to try to improve on last year.

“We are going to push as hard as we can and hopefully we can win some more trophies.”

Basingstoke Bison topped the NIHL South One table last season, narrowly edging out Peterborough Phantoms after both teams finished tied on 56 points.

Swindon finished best of the rest in third, eight points back, although they themselves had an 11-point cushion to the chasing pack.

After the top three proved themselves a cut above the rest of the division last season, Nell expects all the teams to be much more closely matched this term.

“I think there will be a few more different scores this season. Basingstoke only lost four games in 32 last season, but I think the league winners will lose a few more this time,” said Nell.

“It is going to be a tough league as there are quite a few teams that have improved, but hopefully we can be at the top of it.”

The Cats have been able to retain the majority of last season’s successful roster for the new campaign, although a notable absentee will be forward Phil Hill after he called time on his playing career.

However, that has been offset by the return of Adam Harding from Elite League side Dundee Stars, as well as other strong new additions such as defensive pairing Sam Jones and Tyler Plews.

Nell believes the Swindon squad to be in a good place and does not expect any further incomings before the start of the season.

“The summer has been really good for us, I think we have done well with our recruitment,” he added.

“We weren’t quite sure what was going to happen back in May, but it all came together in the end.

“Losing Phil is going to hurt but I think we have replaced him in different ways, and everyone has got to step up and try to do better than they did last year.

“I think that is us done in terms of recruitment. We always keep an eye out, but I am very happy with what we have got and to have Adam come back in is just the cherry on top of the cake.”

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