ALUN Rossiter has reiterated his belief that the decision not to make changes to his Swindon Robins side was the right one after watching them keep their SGB Premiership play-off hopes alive going into the final meeting of the season.

Rossiter was forced to shuffle his pack early in the campaign after reserve Mitchell Davey suffered severe injuries in a nasty crash, with British youngster Jack Smith drafted in to fill the void.

However, stuttering form on the road from the Robins throughout the season – the team having lost each of their last 10 league fixtures away from home – saw calls from supporters for Rossiter to further freshen things up.

Swindon claimed a battling 47-42 victory at home to Poole Pirates on Bank Holiday Monday, a result that means they remain in with a chance of a top-four finish.

All now rests on next Thursday’s last regular-season meeting at home to Belle Vue Aces, with Rossiter sure he was right to back his current seven riders.

“It has been a bit frustrating season, but I have said it before – if I had to make a change, I would have to have made three because of the averages,” said Rossiter.

“People were saying drop out Nick (Morris), David (Bellego) and Jack (Smith), but who could I have brought in? There was nobody out there.

“There was honestly no one in my mind that would have been any better.

“Matt (Ford) has been scouring to build a good Poole team and he has just gone for a steady order all the way through.

“We are weak at reserve, I understand that, but when the top order clicks like they did on Monday, that showed what this team is about.

“I don’t believe in making changes for the sake of it. We could have made changes, spent a lot more money and lost a lot more money, but we have stuck with the guys and shown faith in them.

“We accept there has been a couple of mistakes made, but let’s get the points on the board next week against Belle Vue and see where it takes us.”

Rossiter led Swindon to the SGB Premiership title last season, his second league triumph as Robins boss after a previous victory in 2012.

Although his team may yet miss out on the chance to defend their crown in the play-offs, Rossiter believes this season to be a valuable learning curve.

“I am always man enough to admit when we have made mistakes, and I think as a collective, we have made mistakes this year,” said Rossiter.

“We know what they are and hopefully we can learn from them.

“You can’t win it every year and we have still got two titles in the last few years.

“If we don’t make the play-offs, I will be just as disappointed as anyone, but it wasn’t for the want of trying.

“Some hard lessons have been learned and we are quite aware of what we need to do in the future.”