ALUN Rossiter has labelled tonight’s clash with Wolverhampton Wolves as one of the biggest of Swindon Robins' season.

Swindon find themselves second in the SGB Premiership table, but have raced three times more than the majority of their play-off competitors.

The Robins endured a difficult evening at the Abbey Stadium last week, where they were beaten 49-41 by Belle Vue Aces.

With a poor season of results away from home, Rossiter says the riders have piled the pressure on themselves ahead of the clash.

“The meeting is massively important at the end of the day. Our top five riders all need to step up to the plate and it is as simple as that,” he said.

“If we don’t do that, it’s an early bath for us. It’s one of the biggest meetings we are going to have this year. We still have a few left but we need to get something from Wolverhampton.

“We have been poor on the road this season and we need to turn that around, if we don’t then our season is over.

“We need our top five to perform. Last week we were out-gated towards the end of the meeting and we were beaten by the better team.”

The Robins boss says usually he tries to relieve the pressure on his riders to allow them to perform to the best of their capabilities.

However, Rossiter has taken a different approach ahead of the Premiership clash and has reminded his riders of the pressure they have put on themselves through their below-par performances.

“Normally I try and take the pressure off them but they have put it on themselves so they have to get themselves out of the hole they’re in,” he added.

“I’m being quite firm about it. They either perform or the season is over – they have to come to the party.

“We’ll see how they respond to that tonight, it’s now or never – we need to get something from the meeting and we are more than capable of doing that.”

Swindon have been handed a boost of sorts as their hosts have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of the meeting.

Skipper Rory Schlein is out of action alongside reserve Nathan Greaves.

Schlein crashed out of Ipswich’s defeat at Workington on Saturday while Greaves withdrew from the FIM World U21 Team Cup Final in Denmark, in which Robins' Zach Wajtknecht helped Great Britain to the bronze medal.

WOLVERHAMPTON: Rory Schlein - rider replacement, Kyle Howarth, Jonas B Andersen, Sam Masters, Jacob Thorssell, Ashley Morris, Tom Bacon.

SWINDON: Troy Batchelor, David Bellego, Adam Ellis, Tobiasz Musielak, Nick Morris, Zach Wajtknecht, Jack Smith.

JOIN SHAUN REYNOLDS FOR LIVE COVERAGE OF TONIGHT'S MEETING WITH SPEEDWAY LIVE AT SWINDONADVERTISER.CO.UK/SPORT