THE Bespoke Guardians Swindon Wildcats head coach Aaron Nell says his team is keen to get the monkey off their back this weekend with a home win against Peterborough Phantoms in the Autumn Cup.

The Wildcats have lost three in a row at home this season and are keen to begin an upturn in form in front of their own fans against a long-standing rival.

With Friday night’s game away at Milton Keynes Lightning being called off due to ice-surfacing issues at Planet Ice, Swindon have a one-game weekend to focus all of their energy on.

Previewing Saturday evening’s tie, Nell said: “We need to bounce back - we’ve lost three in a row at home - and that’s not good enough, our fans deserve better than that.

“We need a big push on Saturday night to play well and play hard for each other. If we do that, we’ve always got a chance. We need to get that monkey off our back and try to get that big win.”

A victory is especially important in Nell’s eyes following two heavy defeats to Leeds Knights and Sheffield Steeldogs last weekend.

The Wildcats were pummelled 7-3 on home ice before losing 7-2 away in Yorkshire the following evening.

Nell believes the early optimism from fans should not dissipate just because of a few tough results, and the backing should continue to come with interest as the Autumn Cup campaign rolls on.

Reflecting on last weekend’s games, Nell said: “The scorelines don’t lie, it wasn’t great. But it gives us time to think and figure out how we can be better. It’s early in the season, and I still have a lot of belief in the group that we can get back to where we need to be.

“Last weekend wasn’t ideal, there’s no way you want that to happen and you can’t accept it. But all we can do is learn and try to get better.”