NO sooner had Swindon chief Alun Rossiter got his hands on the season's first piece of silverware - the Elite Shield - he was already preparing for the week's "toughest task" against Poole.

Robins finally laid the ghost of Coventry to rest on Monday as they tore up the script to beat the 2007 treble winners over two legs, but Rosco has now turned his attentions to tonight's Craven Shield clash at Wimborne Road.

The trip to Dorset promises to be the most challenging test date for the Blunsdon outfit, but Rossiter insists he is looking to plunder as many points as possible against the Pirates.

"Poole away will be the real tough one for us," Rosco admitted.

"Once the Elite Shield was in the bag on Monday night, Wednesday's meeting suddenly became the most important.

"We really want to run Poole close just to see where we stand.

"We know we need to up our game, but we've had a chat about it and hopefully we will be on the ball and get as many points as possible".

Tipped by the speedway experts' to finish rock bottom of the Elite League this season, Swindon's win over Coventry will no doubt have turned a few heads this week.

Rossiter even had the luxury of resting Aussie ace Leigh Adams in the final heat at Brandon, opting to give his compatriot Troy Batchelor some more track time.

But despite the early season success, Rosco insists the Robins still have plenty to prove, to the critics and to themselves.

He said: "We have got riders like Theo (Pijper) and Travis (McGowan) that need to pick up their games.

"Theo blew two engines up on Sunday, and he's struggling with injuries so he's not on the pace at the moment.

"Travis is still getting over his injuries. You can see he is a shade of the rider he can be, but once he's got a bit of confidence he showed what he can do.

"James Wright is also struggling with the grippier starts, but he will get used to it and he is also improving."

That Rossiter is still not satisfied with a 98-87 aggregate win over Coventry speaks volumes about the ambition at the Abbey Stadium.

Fans will not start to get excited until Robins chalk up a first away win of the campaign, but skipper Adams says don't bet against them at Poole tonight.

He said: "It's going to be a good couple of meetings in the Craven Shield.

"Poole is a track that we ride pretty well around so I'm looking forward to it.

"We need to try to keep it close there and then hammer them when we get back to Blunsdon."