SWINDON captain Liam Tucker has rejected notions this weekend’s meeting with Rockhampton is a crunch top of the table clash, insisting it is far too early to be making such a statement.

The two sides meet at the County Ground in Glos/Wilts One tomorrow, having each bagged two wins from their two completed fixtures so far this campaign.

But Tucker is more determined to focus on season-building rather than sensationalising a match which will do little in shaping the two teams’ final positions.

“It is far too soon to be talking about a top of the table tussle,” he said.

“I don’t think it is one of the major games in terms of how the whole season is going to look.”

After enduring a significant watering in the past fortnight, the County Ground playing surface could be expected to have tired a little, but Tucker believes it is playing better than ever and will not be a factor in tomorrow’s contest.

Instead the Swindon skipper believes his teammates should be focusing on the young and dynamic Rockhampton fielding unit “It is all going very well and there has been a lot of cricket played on it without any real negative effect,” he said.

“They have got quite a young side, they’re all between 18 and 30 and they field and bowl very, very well.

“They are very athletic and we know it is going to be a very competitive game.”

Will Nicols returns for Swindon in place of the absent Stuart Archer in the only change made by Swindon for the tie.

And with his bowlers all stepping up to the plate so far this year, Tucker is hoping his top order batsmen follow suit and banish memories of last week’s collapse against Wootton Bassett.

“We are looking for a little more from our top five or six, myself included,” he said.

“We need to dig a little deeper at some points, and still keep playing the cricket that we want to play.

“It is about being positive and hopefully we can keep it up for a while.”