SWINDON skipper Simon Stead admits he is trapped in a ‘vicious circle’, but has urged fans to remain supportive as both he and his teammates attempt to inject fresh life into their ailing Elite League season.

The 29-year-old has endured a difficult campaign having been plagued by rib injuries in the early months, and since returning to action he has struggled to recapture his impressive form of 2010.

Alongside this, Stead’s team have struggled to string a positive run of results together and now face an awkward-looking run of fixtures that starts with Eastbourne this afternoon, followed by match-ups with King’s Lynn, Peterborough and Poole twice.

The captain, who could only manage seven points in the 47-43 home defeat to King’s Lynn on Thursday, revealed: “I’m running out of things to try and it’s so frustrating. I think a lot of it is down to the lack of track time that we’re getting.

“I’m really only riding in England and we’ve had a long lay-off with the World Cup, and the season hadn’t really started prior to that.

“I’m just struggling to get going, it’s not from a lack of effort or a lack of money we’re spending on it, I had two brand new engines (for the King’s Lynn meeting).

“When you’re not riding particularly well and you’re not getting used abroad, the amount of meetings we have in England isn’t sufficient enough to one, get the track time you need to be competitive against guys that are riding abroad, and two, get yourself right.

“You’re in a vicious circle without ever managing to step out of it, and that’s something that I and a couple of the other guys need to address.”

The home loss to the Stars was Swindon’s fifth Abbey Stadium defeat in 10 outings this year, but Stead praised the Blunsdon faithful for their backing on the night.

“It’s frustrating for everybody involved but we’ll keep trying,” said the Sheffield-born charger.

“It’s good to see the fans are sticking by us, I thought it was a good crowd, they did get behind us and their support is always appreciated by everybody.

“Whilst we’ve still got their support there’s still a glimmer of hope of turning things around.”

For this afternoon’s trip to Arlington, team manager Jan Staechmann is absent as he is fulfilling media commitments at the Italian Grand Prix, so former boss and current track manager Ronnie Russell will take up the reins.

Number one Scott Nicholls is back from a thigh injury to head the side, while Belle Vue’s Ricky Kling has been brought in as a guest at reserve.

Rider replacement will be in operation for Maciej Janowski who is unavailable.

For Eastbourne’s part, Lukas Dryml is ruled out due to the broken leg he sustained at Birmingham on Thursday.

In addition, the Eagles will operate rider replacement in the absence of Simon Gustafsson, who is sidelined by cracked ribs and former Robin Olly Allen guests.