SWINDON Wildcats player-coach Aaron Nell believes his side can take great confidence from their 6-2 win over Milton Keynes Lightning.

The Wildcats rushed into an early lead after good work from Robin Kovar saw him slot the puck past the opposing netminder.

Toms Rutkis was then handed a match penalty in the eighth minute for boarding with Blaz Emersic making the most of the power play to draw his team level.

The second period saw the visitors take the lead, before goals from Michael Stratford and Jordan Kelsall meant the hosts edged it going into the third.

Tomasz Malasinski then doubled up with two tidy finishes, before Kovar sealed the win with his own second of the game.

Following Saturday night's triumph, Nell heaped praise on his players for their display after redeeming themselves from some disappointing results last weekend.

“It was a great bounce back from last Sunday, you have to credit the players because they worked extremely hard,” said Nell.

“You can tell we were up for a game tonight. It was a great achievement to get a big home win, we haven’t had one like that in a while.

“The boys deserve what they got tonight.”

The Cats were without physical trio, Kyle Smith, Max Birbraer and Sam Bullas due to injury and suspension, which saw Nell opt for a different approach.

Nell beleives it shows great strength-in-depth that his side are able to adapt their style of play to suit the players he has available.

“We have had a problem this year of when we do get ahead, we almost step back a little bit,” added Nell.

“When you are one or two-up, the best way to win a game is to score another, so we were very good tonight.

“We have so many players out of the line-up. It’s a huge credit to the players. We all stuck to it all night.

“We knew we had to bounce back from last week but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.

"We have to start the game tomorrow with a big five minutes.

“It’s about the consistency. When we come to the play-offs it is going to be six games in 11 nights and we have to be ready.”

The Wildcats go to the Sheffield Steeldogs on Sunday (face-off 5.30pm).