SWINDON Wildcats head coach Aaron Nell is urging his team to get the finer details right.

Nell was dismayed with his team’s display as they slipped to a disappointing 5-4 defeat at Bracknell Bees last Sunday and the Link Centre chief is desperate for the Cats to play themselves into a consistent run of good form heading into the play-offs at the tail end of March.

With a home clash with second-in-the-table Milton Keynes Lightning on the menu tonight (face-off 5.45pm), Nell believes that Swindon will have little choice but to produce their very best, with the Buckinghamshire high-fliers certain to hand the Wildcats a stern examination of their play-off credentials.

“We need to be a lot better than we were last weekend and this coming Saturday is a big opportunity to do that,” said Nell.

“If we’re going to do well in the play-offs, we need to be close together as a group and get the little things right – it’s my job to keep telling the guys but they need to do it.

“It’s the work-rate and the desire, and that’s what we’ve got to show and get right.

“We’ve got young players in a lot of different positions and we’ve all got to come together because if we do that, then we can be successful.

“We might not end up playing MK in the group but we probably will come up against them at some point in the play-offs, so this is a good opportunity for us to try and do well against them.

“They’re a top-two side and they’ll be tough to play against but if we want to be successful, we’re going to have to be able to beat these teams.”

On Sunday, Swindon travel to the second-from-bottom Sheffield Steeldogs (face-off 5.30pm), who took the Cats all the way to overtime seven days ago before Robin Kovar’s winning penalty shot sealed a 5-4 victory.

Nell added: “They’re a team that are going to fancy their chances of turning us over.

“We’re going to be tired after Saturday but it’s all about going up there and doing a professional job.”

Forward Sam Bullas has been ruled out of this weekend’s matches, with Kyle Smith also sidelined, but import Max Birbraer will be back available for the trip to Sheffield after completing a three-match suspension.