ALUN Rossiter has his fingers crossed for an injury-free second half of the season as the Swindon Robins look to mount an Elite League play-off challenge.

The Robins have just passed the halfway mark of their campaign, recording eight wins from their 15 meetings so far.

New number one Darcy Ward led them to a 50-42 victory over champions Poole Pirates in their last meeting, a result that means they are just three points shy of fourth-placed Belle Vue Aces.

The fact Rossiter’s men are still in the running for the play-offs is remarkable considering they have been ravaged by injuries so far this term, with former number one Adrian Miedzinski, his temporary stand-in Peter Kildemand and skipper Troy Batchelor all having spells on the sidelines.

Rossiter hopes that those problems are now behind them as the Robins face a pivotal week in the season, with four fixtures in five days, starting away to Wolverhampton Wolves next Monday.

“If we can have a clean bill of health over the second half of the season, that will be massive for us,” said Rossiter.

“Every team is fighting for it and you just need that bit of luck if you are to make the play-offs.

“It’s not been easy for us with the problems we’ve had so far this season but you can’t really complain.

“Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to control it - that’s just how speedway is.

“We’ve had a bit of a break since Poole and now we need to start to refocus and aim for a strong second half of the season.

“We need as many points as we can get next week and have got to look to win at Wolverhampton first and foremost, but it won’t be easy.”

Swindon’s injury worries are not totally over as reserve Lewis Rose is set to miss all next week with the wrist injury he picked up against the Pirates. Ashley Morris is set to guest against Wolves.

However, Nick Morris should be fit to return having sat out the Poole clash with a gashed elbow.

Rossiter said: “Nick will be OK for next week but I doubt if Lewis will be. It’s more than likely he will miss all of next week.

“He is due to have an X-ray sometime soon to see if everything is OK and once he has that ,we will know more. We’re still waiting at the moment.

“Nick had that bang on the head up at Glasgow and then another bang for Somerset, so he’s probably been pleased of the time off and it’s given him the chance to make sure he is back up to full speed.”