AARON Nell says four points is a must for Swindon Wildcats this weekend if they are to bridge the gap towards the higher places in the English Premier League table.

Telford Tigers and Milton Keynes Lightning are away and clear at the summit but below them, just nine points separates third place from seventh.

Swindon find themselves at the bottom of that chasing pack but with four wins in their last five fixtures, are beginning to mount a charge upwards.

Nell’s troops host the team sitting third, Peterborough Phantoms, on Saturday before then travelling to Sheffield Steeldogs, who are one place below the Cats, the following day.

Having seen their winning run ended at leaders Telford last time out, Nell knows back-to-back defeats could be costly and with points now at a premium as teams hunt a strong seeding for the end-of-season play-offs, the Cats player-coach is keen to see a ruthless edge against Peterborough at the Link Centre.

“We have been doing well so the result up at Telford was disappointing but I don’t feel it was an 8-3 game. I actually thought we played better on Sunday than we had done on Saturday when we beat Hull,” said Nell.

“They are a good team and top of the league for a reason, so we need to learn from them and try to get better.

“The top two teams are gone but Peterborough are third and we have got two games left against them this season and both are at home.

“Saturday is a massive game, especially after Sunday as we don’t want to lose two in a row and we don’t want to lose at home either.

“We need to be ready as they are very difficult to play against, they play a style that gets them a lot of wins. They work hard, they are well coached and they are in an awful lot of games.

“They have got a very good goalkeeper in Janis Auzins too, so we don’t need to worry about scoring the pretty goals, we need to make sure we score the ugly goals.”

On Sunday, Swindon travel to a Sheffield side who have tasted victory just 10 times in their 36 EPL fixtures this term and although wary of the challenge that awaits at iceSheffield, Nell knows his team cannot afford to drop points against one of the division’s strugglers.

“Sheffield are a team, especially when you go up there, who are someone you have to be at your very best against,” said Nell.

“We have got them three more times this season and we have got to look to be winning all those games,” said Nell.

“That’s no disrespect to Sheffield but the teams above us are beating them at the moment so we have to do that too.”