ADAM Ellis says the riders do not feel any added pressure despite the Swindon Robins being the reigning SGB Premiership champions.

Alun Rossiter’s septet return to action this evening where they take on last season's Knockout Cup winners Belle Vue Aces in the opening leg of the Charity Shield, before welcoming the Aces to the Abbey Stadium next Thursday.

Many pundits had written off the Swindon side before the first tapes rose last year, with some even predicting they would finish bottom of the league table.

With one win in their opening nine meetings, it looked as if they were onto something too, but Ellis revealed the team spirit never dropped although he acknowledged they can’t afford a sloppy start for a second consecutive year.

“Last year we didn’t get the start we wanted, but everyone in speedway knows it’s not about how you start, it is about how you finish,” he said.

“As long as you’re in the top four and you’re strong in the play-offs that is all that matters but we didn’t make it easy for ourselves.

“The atmosphere at the start of the season wasn’t gloomy. It was more frustration and disappointment because we all wanted to win and we are here to win.

“It was tough when we were losing at home because there were so many people who had come out to watch us.

“It’s frustrating when you can’t do the job on track. After we started going good the atmosphere was really immense. Everyone was enjoying it, everyone was full of confidence and it was almost like we couldn’t do anything wrong.”

Ellis also admitted he himself got off to a slow start last year before growing into a crucial member of Rossiter’s title-winning team.

Despite last season’s tremendous success, Ellis says they will treat this season the same as they did last year, in the hope they will reap similar rewards.

“The pressure doesn’t make much difference to us and everyone knows that anyone can turn good because speedway is a funny sport,” he added.

“You can have a great season one year and have a shocker the next. So, we start from scratch – most of the teams look pretty even this year.

“Everyone looks almost on par, so it will be a case of who can gel well as a team and who can ride well on the night.

“We all get on well here at Swindon, we are all mates and hopefully that will help us in some way in the season.”