FLOYD Taylor insists Swindon Wildcats have the talent and team spirit to bounce back from last weekend’s 4-1 home loss against Streatham when hosting Milton Keynes Thunder at the Link Centre on Saturday.

Stevie Whitfield’s early strike counted for little as the Wildcats slipped to their first home defeat of the season to the south London side, but a confidence-boosting 7-4 win in the return NIHL South One fixture just 24 hours later highlighted their team spirit.

Forward Taylor now hopes that team spirit can be translated into four points against Thunder and Raiders this weekend, although at the same time, the 23-year-old is taking little for granted on home ice.

He said: “It was a tough result for us on Saturday (against Streatham). No team is going to roll over when they come to the Link Centre and play us.

“We hope Saturday night was just a blip. We’re good in our building and we don’t want teams to come in and start taking points from us.

“We’ve got to work hard, if we can win all of our home games then we’ll be in a good position in the league.

“I feel like I’m playing well, it’s been a busy summer and the work has paid off.

“I’ve maybe not scored as many goals as I would’ve liked, but hopefully that will come back.

“I’m not worried about scoring goals, although it is nice to hit the back of the net.

“If I keep working hard, then it will come. I’ve just got to get in the right areas and keep working hard.”

The left-shooter was one of 14 players from last season’s roster that won both the Autumn Cup and National Trophy to be retained by player-coach Aaron Nell, with a further six players added.

Netminder Tyler Perre, defencemen Sam Jones, Tyler Plews and forwards Adam Harding, Loris Taylor and Elliot Randall have all settled into life at the Link well, according to Taylor.

However, pulling together when the going gets tough is something the Wildcats must continue to work on if they’re to stand a chance of winning the majority of their home games.

Taylor said: “The new guys have stepped up and have played well.

“It’s not like they’re not familiar faces to the club, they’ve played here before and everyone is mixing well.

“We need to pull together a bit more in tricky situations to grind out wins.

“We’ve got a good team, and people know that.”