ALUN Rossiter conceded that his makeshift Swindon Robins side were always going to be up against it as a tough week  saw them finish without a point as they suffered a third defeat in five days away at Lakeside Hammers last night.

Having already gone down at Elite League leaders Wolverhampton Wolves and at home to Belle Vue Aces, as well as seeing their trip to King’s Lynn Stars abandoned after only four heats, the Robins travelled to Essex looking to salvage some pride.

However, although they were never outclassed and turned in several strong rides, Rossiter’s side were always playing catch-up behind the Hammers and the curtain came down on their week with even more frustration in the air and their hopes of reaching the end-of-season play-offs significantly hit.

The Robins had to make the trip east with a makeshift side due a fixture clash with Premier League side Somerset Rebels, which meant that Josh Grajczonek, Rohan Tungate and Charles Wright were all unavailable. Stefan Nielsen continued to miss out through injury, leaving just skipper Jason Doyle, Nick Morris and Justin Sedgmen from Swindon’s original septet.

Rider replacement was operated in Tungate’s place, while Bjarne Pedersen, Stuart Robson and Danny Ayers were all booked as guests.

Although Robson in particular excelled with a haul of 11 points, the absence of so many of their regular riders proved decisive for the Robins as Lakeside swept to a 51-39 success.

“Stuart Robson was the star tonight. He gave 120 per cent but it was always going to be hard with the team we had,” said team manager Rossiter.

“Doyle was good, Sedgy is struggling at the moment, I don’t know what is up with him at the moment, but it was good to see Nick coming back to a bit of form.

“We were nearly there and we kept eating away but we just got caught at the wrong times with races.

“I thought Doyley could have held heat 11 but it’s hard around here. It’s not the smoothest of places. It makes Swindon look like a billiard table. For a tight track, it’s very rough and even a couple of their riders were not happy with it tonight.

“This week’s been a big disappointment. Now we have got to make sure that when we go away after the break, we have got to go to King’s Lynn and win and got to go to Coventry and win.”