SWINDON Robins team manager Alun Rossiter admits he had no doubts about bringing Nick Morris back to the Abbey Stadium for a sixth straight season after tying down the Australian for another year.

By Rossiter’s own admission, Morris “did not have his best season” in 2016 and finished with an average lower than that which he ended the previous campaign.

However, the Robins chief has put that down to mitigating factors away from the track and Rossiter still believes that in 22-year-old Morris, he has one of the brightest prospects in the sport on his books.

“He didn’t have the best of years by his standards but he still ended up with an average of 6.41, which was the second best in our team behind Jason Doyle,” said Rossiter.

“What people don’t realise is that he lived with me for four years and then at the start of this year, he moved out and lived with his girlfriend.

“He’s maturing all of the time and he is taking on responsibility for himself, whereas before it was down to muggins here to clean up after him.

“It was a difficult year for him as he didn’t have a Premier League team, so he was missing out on meetings and only riding once a week or going a few weeks without a meeting.

“He only had a week or so when he was down to second string from heat leader and he still ended up second in our averages, so when you consider all of that, I think he did OK overall.”

Morris becomes the second member of the Robins’ 2016 septet to re-commit themselves for next season, following in the footsteps of skipper and fellow Aussie Jason Doyle.

Despite his below-par campaign, Rossiter was always keen to bring Morris back to Blunsdon once again, although he expects his rider to show a marked improvement out on the track next term.

“It frustrates me when people have a dig and say: ‘Why are you bringing Nick back again?’ Those same people also complain about there being no continuity in the team,” said Rossiter.

“In Nick, we’ve got a young rider who has done really well for us already over a number of years and is still learning his trade.

“He’s still developing, he’s not the finished article yet - he’s not even 23 until next year. He is going in the right direction and I know he is only going to get better.

“He didn’t have his best season last year but nine times out of 10, I know I can rely on Nick.

“He’s got to step it up next year, we’ve discussed that and he knows he’s got to step it up and I am sure he is going to and he’s going to be a big rider for us.”