THE work rate of imports Jan Kostal and Henri Sandvik has spread throughout the whole Swindon Wildcats line-up, according to head coach Ryan Aldridge.

The Wildcats have won five of their last six EPL games which has propelled them into the top half of the table and to within 10 points of fourth-placed Milton Keynes.

And Aldridge feels that the graft shown by second-liners Kostal and Sandvik has pushed their counterparts on to better displays.

“The thing is with those two is that Janny’s the oldest player in the team but the hardest worker, and Henri is an import but probably our second-hardest worker,” said Aldridge.

“It’s such a comfort for me. It’s the first time in our league that we’ve had two imports that work like that. I don’t think any other team has got imports that work as hard as they do.

“Their work rate is phenomenal both on and off the puck and I think that’s spread through the team now and everyone has realised that they have to work like that as well.”

Making the EPL’s top four - Swindon’s pre-season target - is now on paper a markedly more realistic prospect than it was a month ago, but Aldridge has refused to state what he believes his team are capable of.

The Link Centre boss is keen to avoid putting extra pressure on his players as the current setup is working well.

“We’ve all got our different views on it, I guess,” said Aldridge, when asked if his team could finish in the top four.

“I know what I think is possible, but I’m not going to say that and start putting panic buttons on players.

“We’ve talked about it as a team and I’ve said that we’re just going to take it game by game and see what we can accomplish, and that’s all we’re going to do.

“I’m not going to sit here and put pressure on players and say where we’re going to be, but we’re obviously playing well right now.”