AARON Nell is a proud man after being named Wildcats’ new skipper, even if he believes it ‘doesn’t really matter’ who takes on the role.

The British forward was last week handed the captaincy by head coach Ryan Aldridge, with his assistants on the ice being D-men Joe Baird and Shane Moore.

And ahead of this weekend’s English Premier League clashes against Telford and Manchester, 22-year-old Nell has spoken of his delight at becoming Swindon’s skipper.

“It’s an honour, I’m very happy that Ry gave it to me, I was a little bit surprised but it’s a compliment,” he said.

“I thought there might be a chance but it’s not something you really think about, you don’t go in thinking you want to be captain.

“If it’s you then great, if it’s someone else then you support them, and I’m sure everyone will support me too.

“They (Nell’s teammates) all said congratulations, but it doesn’t really matter who’s captain, it’s not going to change anyone.

“I’m going to try and lead by example and if we’re struggling in a game then I’ll try and pull us out of it.”

Nell now leads a team that is without a victory in four EPL outings, and the former Coventry man has spoken of the importance of Swindon setting right their home form.

While Swindon impressed in their opening-day penalty shots loss to Manchester, last Friday saw them on the end of a thumping defeat to reigning play-off champions Slough.

Tomorrow gives them the opportunity to clock up their first two-pointer of 2012/13 at home to Telford, who have suffered three defeats in three league games so far.

“The game against Slough we didn’t play our best, but it still wasn’t a 7-3 game,” said Nell.

“That was a disappointing result, especially at home, because we’re a team that has to get as many points as possible at home.

“We want to sort out our home form because we want as many fans there as possible to support us.

“We know what to expect from Telford as they have already beaten us once, but we’ll be better than when we played them before.

“If we were to get a win it would be a good boost for everyone and would get the monkey off our back.”

Swindon face another long away trip on Sunday with Manchester the hosts at Altrincham Ice Dome, and Nell admits his side are underdogs for the clash.

“If we get a point or two points, it’s a bonus,” he said.

“Everyone thinks Manchester will beat us away from home, but we know if we play well we can beat anyone.

“They are very good at home but we know how to play them and last year we did quite well up there.”

Finnish import Matias Perkkio has recovered from the virus that kept him out of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Peterborough and will be available to play in both of this weekend’s games.

For Saturday’s home game against Telford, Wildcats are running their Kids Go Free promotion, in order to entice fans to the Link Centre.