ALUN Rossiter admits his Swindon Robins troops face a crunch week in the defence of their SGB Premiership title as they look to return to top form after a run of inactivity.

Swindon have raced just once since beating King’s Lynn Stars 52-38 at home on June 21, going down to a heavy 55-35 defeat at Belle Vue Aces last Monday.

The Robins held a hefty lead at the top of the table in the wake of that victory over King’s Lynn but have since dropped to second, and they are now just six points clear of Leicester Lions all the way down in sixth.

Rossiter takes his troops to Wolverhampton Wolves, who occupy the last of the top four play-off spots, on Monday before Swindon host new leaders Somerset Rebels on Thursday.

The Swindon boss believes recent team changes across the league have led to things tightening up, but reiterated his belief that no such plans to freshen up the rider roster were required at the Abbey Stadium.

“It’s a big week next week and we have two very important meetings,” said Rossiter.

“We need to bounce back from Monday. That was disappointing but we just had one of those nights, and in fairness to Belle Vue, everybody clicked.

“It is getting a bit tighter in the league now and everyone is starting to make changes, just like we did last year.

“I don’t believe we need to make changes because it won’t be one, it will be two and then who do you drop out?

“I guarantee if we drop anybody out, people will be there to pounce and it will be to their benefit.

“At the moment, I don’t see any reason to think about changes.”

Last Monday’s 20-point loss at Belle Vue marked Swindon’s heaviest defeat of the season.

Although frustrated at the outcome at the National Speedway Stadium, Rossiter felt his troops turned in a better performance than the final scoreline suggests.

“I actually didn’t think we rode badly, it’s just that whatever we did, Belle Vue seemed to do better,” said Rossiter.

“If we were tailing off at the back and had looked really poor, it would be demoralising but when you look back, we were in there and just a couple of things didn’t go for us.

“I don’t like to use excuses, but we have had a long break as a team and once or twice, through no fault of their own, a couple of the guys got in each other’s way.

“It was a tough night for us, but I am confident we can bounce back.”