THE Bespoke Guardians Swindon Wildcats head coach Aaron Nell says every week will be the most important of the season from now on as the Link Centre outfit tries to recover from a poor Christmas period.

Ahead of a double clash with Sheffield Steeldogs across Saturday and Sunday, Swindon had lost six of their previous eight NIHL games – a run that date back to mid-December.

One of the key reasons for this was down to a severe loss of players due to Covid, but with nearly all of his squad available again, Nell is hoping for a turnaround in form akin to the one that saw his team go top just weeks ago.

Nell said: “Every game will be big for us after the tough stretch we’ve had.

“From now on, we have to treat it like every weekend is the biggest weekend of our season.

“We had 18 games without a regulation loss earlier this year - I don’t think we’re going to do that again, but even getting close would see us in a really good spot come the end of the season.”

After beating Leeds Knights before losing to Peterborough Phantoms last weekend, Swindon have prepared for a Sheffield double-header this time.

Discussing the differences between playing the same team twice rather than splitting focus, Nell said: “You’re only planning for one team, so that makes it a little more straightforward.

“In general, you only think about Saturday during the week and then you figure out Sunday when it comes.

“It’s a big weekend for us - Sheffield have been one of the best teams in the league. They’ve had their Covid issues over Christmas, but I think they’re almost back to their full line-ups.

“It will be two very difficult games at a stage for us where we need to start picking up points and going on another run.”