Swindon Wildcats v Leeds Knights: Aaron Nell keen to open home account after opening night setback
LEEDS KNIGHTS head down to Wiltshire this afternoon to face-off against a Swindon Wildcats team determined to bounce back from losing on home ice in their season opener last weekend.
The two teams locking horns at the Link Centre have already had a good look at each other in back-to-back pre-season games, both going the way of the Wildcats by the odd goal.
But while Leeds bounced back the following weekend to defeat Sheffield Steeldogs and Telford Tigers – again by one-goal margins – Swindon lost out twice to Bees IHC.
They then lost their season home opener 2-1 to Telford Tigers in the NIHL Autumn Cup, before redeeming themselves with a 4-1 victory on the road against Bees 24 hours later.
Swindon player-coach Aaron Nell was impressed with Dave Whistle’s team in their pre-season double-header and knows they will have to keep scoring chances for the visitors to a minimum if they are to record a first win of the season on home ice.
“It was clearly disappointing to lose on Saturday, but I was pleased with the effort the boys put in and it really could have gone either way,” said Nell.
“It was brilliant to bounce back, though as getting points on the board was important.
“We had two games of close, exciting hockey against Leeds in pre-season. Dave has built a fast team, who love to shoot the puck, so we’ll have to be defensively strong and play hard around our netminder.”