SWINDON Robins boss Alun Rossiter has thrown down the gauntlet to his team by insisting that settling for losing points simply won’t suffice if their play-off quest is to have a happy ending.

Monday night’s chaotic defeat at the Belle Vue Aces provided Rossiter’s men with a point to take home but the Abbey Stadium chief reckons that his troops should be setting the bar a lot higher.

The Robins are due to travel to table-toppers Poole Pirates this evening (tapes-up 7.30pm), although forecasted heavy rainfall in Dorset looks to have cast doubt over the meeting, with broadcasters Sky Sports axing the clash from their schedule yesterday.

Regardless, Swindon manager Rossiter says that his riders have to be in it to win at Wimborne Road and every other tough venue in the Elite Leauge.

“It’s another track that we just don’t seem to get a grasp of. It’s all from that start and there isn’t a great deal of passing,” said Rossiter, whose men lost 54-36 at Poole on July 29.

“They just seem to be able to get out of the start first and we’ve got to make sure that the mental block goes on Wednesday so that we can get something out of it.

“We should be getting a point at least. We shouldn’t be frightened.

“We’ve just got to go in with the attitude of wanting to win all of them. It’s a simple as that – no ifs or buts.

“It’s no good saying ‘oh, we’ve got to get a point here or a point there’. You can’t think like that. You’ve got to go into a meeting believing you can win.

“I know it’s going to be a struggle at Poole but I genuinely believe that we are capable of doing something but we’ve certainly got to raise our game.”

Rossiter is also backing former Pirates man Darcy Ward to have an impact if his return to Wimborne Road today goes ahead.

He added: “We saw what the Darcy effect had on the Poole boys last time – it pumped them all up – and I’m convinced we’ll see a better Darcy this time.

“He’s in great form but we need the other six riders firing too.”