PATCHED up Swindon put in a brave effort but could not prevent a heavy 62-28 defeat at Lakeside.

The Robins travelled to the Arena-Essex Raceway with just two of their regular line-up following their early-season injury crisis.

Nick Morris and Grzegorz Zengota were joined by four guests whilst rider replacement operated for Troy Batchelor.

Despite their best efforts Alun Rossiter’s side could not prevent a comprehensive defeat and team boss Rossiter is keen to see them move on from a “week from hell”.

“I thought we’d do a little bit better than that to be honest, but it was a really tough night for us," said Rossiter.

"The Lakeside boys are really dialled in around their home track and we were never really comfortable with what is a really tough little track.

“We’ve had a week from hell but we’ve just got to forget about it, move on and focus on our next meeting against King’s Lynn when we will be back to full strength."

Stand-in No.1 Scott Nicholls scored top for the Robins, recording their only two race wins and joining forces with Morris for a 5-1 in heat 11.

Morris and Zengota both battled hard in the middle order, whilst talented young Australian Max Fricke also notched a solid score in the No.2 spot.

However, the weakened visitors were never really in contention around the tight, tricky circuit as they struggled to recover from a nightmare start which saw them concede three 5-1s in the opening three races.

Rossiter’s side will nonetheless be looking to quickly move on and regroup when they return to action at King’s Lynn on April 22 with Danish ace Peter Kildemand making his eagerly-anticipated Robins’ return.