TROY Batchelor admitted he did raise concerns about the club’s financial situation before committing to Swindon but is now keen to put last season’s difficulties behind him and lead the Robins.

The Australian, who will captain the Blunsdon club when he returns for a third straight season with the side in the new year, was a member of the 2013 side which went unpaid for a part of last season and was at one stage owed a combined £50,000.

Batchelor, who is now the first reserve for the Grand Prix series after Brit Chris Harris was elevated into the competition to replace Tomasz Gollob, has enjoyed his two seasons at Swindon and after talking to team manager Alun Rossiter was reassured the financial difficulties were in the past.

“The only problems we had were finances which led to us not being paid and other things, but that looks a lot better than it was,” he said.

“I had to think about things because I didn’t know if I could handle going through what happened last year all over again, because racing is stressful enough without having to worry about whether or not you are going to get paid.

“We had to talk about that because it can’t happen again and it’s not just me either, all the other guys are in the same boat.

“We want to move on from that now and put it all behind us, but if for some reason it does happen again it won’t just be only one bike in the pits, we just won’t turn up.

“Rosco and I have already spoken about that and he has my back. He said he’s been promised by the guys it won’t happen and will take the club back up to where it should be.

“It could have been a better year if there hadn’t been the problems and we could have even finished top of the league had we been paid on time because it made such a big impact on us.

“When you’re not paid you don’t want to ride and that was our attitude half the year, but we still finished second in the table.

“That wasn’t too bad but it could have been better.”

Meanwhile, the track shop at the Abbey Stadium is open from 10am-1pm tomorrow for fans to buy season tickets and merchandise.

Season tickets remain on sale, priced at £270 for adults, £205 for senior citizens/students and £40 children for anyone buying before January 15.

The tickets are valid for all regular season Elite League matches, which includes four more fixtures than last season with the Robins taking on each of their rivals twice at the Abbey Stadium.

Adults and concessions will include a match programme and all season ticket holders will receive rain-off text alerts.