Milton Keynes Lightning this weekend play their final games before heading into the Christmas break and are out to bag two points at home against Swindon Wildcats to thank their supporters for their backing so far this season (Saturday 17 December, 7.00pm).

The Lightning head into this weekend sitting third in the league, one point behind Slough but with a game in hand and with seven wins from the last eight, whilst the Wildcats sit seventh with four wins from eight. When the two sides met in a double header last month, Nick Poole’s side defeated the Wildcats 5-3 at the Link Centre, but 24 hours later Ryan Aldridge’s side took their revenge – beating Lightning 3-2 at the Thunderdome.

Whilst Wildcats’ favourite Aaron Nell has wasted no time since his return from the Elite League showing his prowess in front of goal, Milton Keynes still boasts the tightest defence in the league, having conceded fewer goals so far this season than even league leaders Guildford. Alex Mettam has stepped up to become statistically the best netminder in the EPL, and goals have come from all of Lightning’s lines this season, with Leigh Jamieson revitalised as a forward, and imports Blaz Emersic and Juraj Gracik both making regular contributions to the back of opposition nets. Lightning go into Saturday’s game on the back of a morale-boosting home victory over Slough Jets last Sunday which kept both sets of fans on the edge of their seats until the final buzzer, with two goals and an assist from ever-influential coach Nick Poole, and goals from Jamieson, Emersic and Gracik.

This weekend’s fixtures are the last before Lightning go into an 11 day Christmas break which Poole says will help the team prepare for the second half of the season, and their push for silverware. “We’ve picked up a few knocks and niggles in the last few weeks – Adam Carr, Muzzy Wales, Ross Bowers and Matt Towalski have all missed odd games, and Grant McPherson is still recovering from shoulder ligament damage, so the break will help everyone heal – and, of course, to get some rest over the holidays, and make sure we come out of the blocks fresh and firing on all cylinders when we play again on the 30th. We have three games in four days when we come back, so the break will make sure everyone is rested and ready to get straight back into the thick of it!”

The Lightning’s supporters have a reputation as some of the loudest in the English Premier League, and Poole said the team would be doing everything possible to give them some festive cheer going into the Christmas break. “Our fans have been superb so far this year – they’ve backed us week in, week out - even at our midweek game against Basingstoke recently we had a superb turnout. I said at the start of the season that we want to turn the Thunderdome into a fortress, to make other teams feel beaten even before the first face-off, and the supporters have really got behind that. Swindon showed last time they came here that they can give us a fight, and Manchester in their own barn on Sunday will be difficult to beat – but we’ll be putting everything into having another winning weekend, to give our fans an early Christmas gift!”

Lightning face-off against Swindon Wildcats at 7.00pm on Saturday 17 December at the Thunderdome, and the puck drops against Manchester Phoenix at 5.30pm on Sunday 18 December.