AARON Nell admitted that Swindon’s failure to convert chances at home in their quarter-final against Manchester played a major role in their exit from the English Premier League play-offs.

Wildcats were defeated 2-1 by their visitors at the Link Centre on Saturday and then lost 4-0 in the return leg at Altrincham Ice Dome last night.

And Nell believes that a stunning display from Phoenix gloveman Stephen Fone in the first leg made a huge difference in the context of the overall tie.

“Their goalie won them the game on Saturday, he made some of the best saves I’ve ever seen in my life,” said the British forward.

“We’re a team that has to win at home to have a chance in the play-offs, and if we don’t do that we’re always pushing our luck.

“Having watched the video a 5-2 or 6-2 scoreline wouldn’t have flattered us, but we couldn’t do it.

“I think we know we could have turned it round in Manchester the next day, but we weren’t good enough.

“We scored one goal in two games and they deserved to win.”

Leading 2-1 from the first night, Manchester dashed any hopes Wildcats may have had of turning the form book upside down.

Three goals in nine second-period minutes did the trick, with the visitors unable to recover.

James Archer converted at 8.02 to ease the home fans’ concerns, and Manchester blew their opponents out of sight in the second period.

Archer bagged his second at 21.03 and then provided assists for the third and fourth goal, which were scored by Tom Duggan (27.12) and Stephen Wallace (29.32) respectively.

Players including Nell registered their disappointment on Twitter with Nicky Watt tweeting simply: “Gutted”.

However, defenceman Shane Moore was more positive, tweeting: “Was great to be involved in playoffs again and proud to have been part of the wildcats this season”.

On Saturday, Swindon were left cursing their luck after Fone pulled off a brilliant display between the pipes.

Fone saved all but one of 40-plus shots with only Swindon’s Czech import Jaroslav Cesky able to beat him on the night.

The hosts opened positively but found themselves behind with 34 seconds remaining of the first period when Slava Koulikov finished after good work from James Neil and Juraj Faith.

That lead was doubled at 29.03 when Stephen Wallace struck, with the assist provided by Martin Cingel.

Tom Murdy had to be at his best to keep Swindon in the tie with a couple of crucial saves, before Cesky hit home from close range at 36.26.

In the third period there were no further goals but Fone came into his own, most notably denying Michal Pinc with four minutes left.