Rossiter: Playoffs are an uphill task

ALUN ROSSITER admitted it was a disappointing defeat to take as the Belle Vue Aces dominated proceedings at the Abbey Stadium last night with a 41-49 away victory. TotalSport Swindon’s Ryan Walker got the thoughts of the manager following the action.

Previously stating that Swindon needed to win all of their remaining home meetings this season, last nights defeat sees the Robins relying on other results to make the playoffs. And Rossiter was honest in his appraisal following his side’s loss.

“They wanted it more than us,” said Rossiter.

“We got ourselves in positions but we didn’t get out the starts.

“We struggled all evening and we just weren’t good enough.

“It’s as simple as that,” he said.

Equal teams on paper made for some fantastic racing last night, however, Rossiter was left questioning what went wrong for his team against the Aces.

“Very much so the teams are equal on paper and that’s what makes it so disappointing,” said Rossiter.

“We are more than capable of beating Belle Vue, certainly at home as well.

“They were on a high after winning at Somerset and confidence is clearly high within their group or riders,” he said.

“I couldn’t see why weren’t going out and winning and it’s disappointing,” added Rossiter.

With other teams having meetings in hand over the Robins, the playoffs are now even more difficult to reach. And Rossiter insisted his riders must give more to stand a chance of retaining their title.

“We’ve got an uphill task to meet the playoffs now,” stated Rossiter.

“It’s up to the riders now.

“If they want an early bath then they’re going to get one if they carry on riding like this,” he added.

“We need to try and get things right,” said the manager.

Away at Wolverhampton on Monday provides the Swindon Robins with a chance to redeem themselves, and Rossiter states a positive attitude is required to stand any chance of getting the win.

“We’ve got to go into our next meeting with a positive attitude,” said Rossiter.

“We’re at Wolverhampton on Monday and we need to get some points there.

“It’s a hard task to meet the playoffs but anything can happen in speedway,” he said.

“Other teams around the playoffs have still got to ride each other and we need to focus on making it as easy as possible for ourselves,” added Rossiter