AARON Nell has demanded his senior Swindon Wildcats players raise their game after they suffered a second NIHL South One home defeat in succession on Saturday night.

The Cats went down 5-2 at home to London Raiders at the Link Centre, having also lost 4-2 at home to Peterborough Phantoms seven days earlier.

Chris Jones scored for Swindon on the powerplay in the first period against Raiders, while Lloris Taylor struck in the second, however, highlights were few and far between for the home side.

Player-coach Nell says the more experienced players on his roster must set the standard when the Cats find themselves in a tough spot.

“It is not good enough,” said Nell.

“Five-on-five, we scored one goal and it was from Lloris Taylor. That’s great for Lloris, but Lloris shouldn’t be the only player who is scoring when it is five-on-five on this team.

“There are big players that are amongst the higher earning players in this league that need to perform.

“Just working hard is not enough for the top players – the top players have to execute. They have to turn up in situations like that.

“We are in a tough spot and we need to pull through.”

Jones’ strike for the Cats cancelled out an early opener for Raiders, who then took a 3-2 lead into the final period with goals either side of Lloris’ effort.

The visitors then struck twice more without reply in the final session to inflict a third home defeat on Swindon this term, with Streatham also triumphing at the Link back in October.

Nell says his side have fallen short of what is expected on home ice in recent weeks.

“We said last weekend after the Peterborough loss that if it is a once-a-month thing, it is a blip, but defeats can’t happen like they did this week,” said Nell.

“Raiders played very well, they had a plan and the executed it. They worked hard and they deserved to win.

“It can’t happen two weeks in a row – our fans don’t deserve that.

“We lost two games all year at home last season, but this season we have lost three before Christmas.

“Our fans our very appreciative of us if we work hard. No loss is good, but when you work all the way to the end, you can accept that, but the last two weeks have been bad losses and we can’t accept that.”