PLAYER-coach Aaron Nell is sure the future of the Swindon Wildcats is in safe hands with the likes of Adam Finlinson on their roster.

The 17-year-old forward was given some rare ice time for the Cats in their English Premier League clash at home to Guildford Flames on Saturday, with his performance one of the bright spots in a disappointing 4-2 defeat at the Link Centre.

Great Britain Under 18 international Finlinson is in his second season at Swindon, having joined from Kingston Juniors, close to his north east roots, and is predominantly playing for the club's Okanagan Hockey Academy side under the tutelage of former Wildcats boss Ryan Aldridge.

The Cats are well-known for nurturing their homegrown talent and Nell, who came through Swindon’s age group sides himself, says youngsters will always be given their chance in the first team if they continue to impress.

“Bringing young players through is massive. They are a big part of our club and the future of our club,” said Nell.

“Adam lit up practice last week and he was flying. The whole team were thinking: ‘who is this guy?’. He doesn’t practice with us all the time but he was phenomenal in practice.

“He can give us that little bit extra that some of the other players can’t.

“We want to give young guys a chance. They have got to work their way in and they have got to work hard but they are a massive part of our future.

“He just needs to work hard. We are very lucky that we have got some experienced players here, who you can watch and you can learn from, and he’s getting great guidance from Ryan in the OHA.

“He is a very, very good player. He has got a serious, serious amount of talent and hopefully, he can be a big part of our future.”

Meanwhile, Cats will assess the fitness of forward Corey McEwen and D-man Matt Selby this week after the duo missed the Flames loss through injury.

Swindon will definitely be without netminder Stevie Lyle and import Tomasz Malasinski for their three EPL fixtures this weekend as they are away on international duty with Great Britain and Poland respectively.