SWINDON Wildcats chief Ryan Aldridge was in no doubt that his team’s English Premier League defeat at Manchester Phoenix won’t set the tone for Thursday’s crunch Challenge Cup semi-final clash with the same opponents.

The Wildcats slipped to a 5-2 defeat at the Altrincham Ice Dome on Sunday evening and are set to return to the North West again in four days’ time for a second leg showdown against last season’s league champions, with the tie delicately-poised at 3-3 following last month’s opening clash.

Despite admitting that this evening’s league victory could give the Phoenix an extra spring in their step on Thursday, head coach Aldridge wasn’t drawing too much from the result and was grateful for the chance to analyse the Wildcats’ opposite numbers before they go toe-to-toe with them again for the right to reach the Challenge Cup final.

“It sounds weird but even losing the game, I feel a little bit confident in myself about things that we can do on Thursday night,” said Aldridge, whose team succumbed to three final period goals.

“The biggest thing for me was about not giving them confidence because they’re a team that breeds off confidence, and they obviously got that towards the end of the game, which I’m a little bit upset about.

“But we’ve got three or four days to forget about that, and so have they obviously, so it’s all square again on Thursday night.

“It’s more about how I was going to play on Thursday. I’ve been sat back a little bit more tonight than I normally would to see what they were doing.

“I think there are a few little things we’re going to work on in practice to close down certain plays, there’s no doubt about that.

“Maybe guys are already thinking about Thursday night tonight but if we come out and play smart defensively, we’ve got a chance.

“I’ve said it all year – when our team’s playing well, I fancy them against anybody, so hopefully we play well on Thursday night.”

Aldridge also thought that his team were handed a swift ‘reality check’ after their stirring 10-1 demolition of the Bracknell Bees on Saturday.

The Swindon boss added: “I thought in the last 20 minutes, we were just defensively weak.

“I was stood there and I think it was decided in two or three feet – we just didn’t have that desire to get that extra two or three feet to finish our checks or close guys down tonight and we just gave them too much ice and room to move.

“It’s maybe good to have a little bit of a reality check after Saturday night but it’s two different teams – Saturday night was a team that was struggling and this was a team that are finding their form.

“When a team like this find their form, they can beat anyone – there’s no doubt about that – and they can score goals.”