NICK Morris is hoping a move down the Swindon Robins pecking order will give him a vital confidence boost going into the business end of the season.

The 20-year-old has spent the entirety of the 2014 season at heat leader which, under the new rules, involves a tougher schedule than in previous years and means he races against vastly more experienced riders in each of his four programmed heats.

However, a tough run of form and improvement from Simon Gustafsson has seen the Swede jump ahead of Morris in the averages, meaning the Aussie will now race against fast track reserves in two of his four outings.

While Morris is focused on a return to the top three as soon as possible, he’s keen to make the most of what is hopefully a temporary switch.

“I think it will be good for my confidence because I’ve not been going too good lately, but I’ve made a few changes and I’m feeling better about things now,” he said.

“It will be good to have things a bit easier, although it’s not what I wanted, but for now it can help me get my confidence back and hopefully I will be a heat leader again soon.

“It will be alright if I can score some big points this month and then see where I am next month.

“I want to be beating the heat leaders but I can’t be being beaten by the fast track riders.”

Morris’s first meeting in his new role comes against Poole this evening, with the Australian expecting a tough night at Wimborne Road.

“It’s been a while since we raced for Swindon but it’s good to be back and hopefully the weather’s as good as it has been while we’ve not been racing,” he said.

“Poole always have a strong team so it’s going to be tough, but hopefully we can do our best and see what we can come back with.”