ALUN Rossiter admits that putting together his new Swindon Robins septet this winter has been one of his toughest-ever jobs.

The Robins were forced to make a change to their side late last week when it was discovered that Danish rider Mikkel Brondum Andersen would be coming in on a seven average instead of the five that Rossiter was led to believe.

The Dane’s new rating meant the Abbey Stadium side went over the 50-point limit set for the upcoming SGB Premiership campaign.

When the news came through that Andersen would no longer be able to join Robins, team boss Rossiter moved to bring in New Zealander Bradley Wilson-Dean, who will arrive with an average of 5.02.

Juggling a septet to stay within the new limit this winter has been a tricky task, especially when it was announced that skipper Jason Doyle’s average was more than 13.

“It has been the toughest year trying to put together a new team,” said Rossiter.

"It probably didn’t help that I wasn’t able to go to the AGM because of the rules about more than two promoters (from one team) in the room (the Robins were represented by chief executive Mike Bowden and co-promoter Colin Pratt).

“I wasn’t happy about not being there. It was the first time that I wasn’t able to go.”

With Doyle coming in at 13.41, Nick Morris was handed an average of 8.97, while Adam Ellis was scored at 7.84 and David Bellego 7.63.

Emil Grondal and Zach Wajtknecht came in averages of 4.39 and 2.63 respectively, leaving Rossiter with only 5.13 to play with.

And when he believed that Andersen, who had never ridden in the Elite League before, would be coming in on an average of five, he was stunned to discover that the 20-year-old would actually be on a seven.

Rossiter said that he had already had Wilson-Dean, who rode for Somerset Rebels last season, on his radar before plumping for Andersen, only to have to go back in for the young Kiwi to round off his line-up.

“No-one is going to take on punt on these kids when they are given averages of seven,” the Robins boss added.

"It is not fair on them."