SWINDON Wildcats head coach Ryan Aldridge has blamed a sloppy goal for killing off his side who he admits are lacking in confidence after four defeats on the bounce.

The performance at the Link Centre was a marked improvement on a week ago when they lost to Peterborough Phantoms 7-2, but Aldridge’s players could not prevent Guildford Flames walking away with a 5-2 win.

The visitors found themselves two goals to the good after a first period strike from Ben Campbell was followed by a goal from Jozef Kohut early in the second.

However the Cats showed real spirit as they fought their way back into the tie with two-quick fire goals within a minute from Adam Harding and Lee Richardson to put the hosts level before the second period break.

It was a goal from Owen Fussey that was the difference between the two sides on the night as his shot somehow found a way under the body of Steve Lyle in the 43rd minute to give the Flames a third period lead and knock the confidence of an already shakey Cats team.

As Swindon pushed for a second equaliser in the match, head coach Ryan Aldridge pulled off Stevie Lyle to give the Cats an extra outfield player but that plan failed to work as David Longstaff was twice found with long passes out of defence to wrap up the lop-sided score-line.

“I thought we were good in the second period but again for me a sloppy third goal cost us the game,” said Aldridge.

“I think probably the way we are mentally right now that was a killer blow for us and it hurt us too much to come back from.

“We don’t want to start putting too much pressure on guys to win, they know themselves they’re not performing but we have seen them perform in the past and it is just finding a way to get them playing every night and to get the key players scoring goals.

“Our defensive zone tonight just made too many weak mistakes defensively.

“We have got to look at every scenario to make our team better.

“I thought our third line played great at times tonight, I thought all three lines did, and that middle period I thought we were the better team but because of the way we are at the moment we are in that lull.

“I was impressed by the guys desire, especially the third line they played some great shifts for us tonight.”

Against the run of play, the Flames were able to break away in the 11th minute with the puck finding its way to Campbell, who looked dangerous with his pace all evening, and he took the chance well.

The Flames doubled their lead three minutes into the second period when Kohut took the puck around the back of the goal to score in the near post.

However Swindon did not give up and were right back in the game after two quick fire goals. The first came from Harding in the 28th minute, after Betteridge's initial shot came off a combination of the net minder and the woodwork, but Harding was on hand to fire home.

The second came less than a minute later when vice-captain Stevie Whitfield saw his long range effort saved but Richardson was able to turn the puck in from close range to the delight of the home crowd.

Guildford found themselves back in front in the third period through a soft goal, as Fussey shot off balance but the puck managed to squirm through the legs of net minder Lyle.

Then, with the Cats pressing and Aldridge pulling off Lyle, the visitors scored twice in the final minute of the game through Longstaff who swept the puck into an empty net on both occasions to put the contest to bed.

The Cats must now travel to Bracknell Bees tomorrow night hoping not to suffer a fifth loss on the bounce and Aldridge will take any type of win to boost his ranks.

“It’s a tough building for us to go to so we need to go there and play very smart and not make any weak mistakes that is going to cost us,” he said.

“We’ll play an ugly road game and if we play like we did for the most part of tonight we’ll be ok but we can’t go in there and the guys not play every shift again.

“It could be a turning point for us, we need to start scoring ugly goals, our two goals tonight weren’t great but they were goals so a couple more of those will be helpful.”