POOLE go into tonight’s south-west derby knowing that victory over Plymouth would send them to the top of the Cab Direct Championship.
Oxford, who travel to Plymouth on Saturday, and Scunthorpe who visit Glasgow on Friday, are currently two points clear of Poole but with inferior race points difference.
Standing in the way is a Gladiators’ side anxiously awaiting a late fitness test on Dan Thompson who dislocated his shoulder riding for Great Britain in the Speedway of Nations 2 event on Friday night.
Tom Brennan makes his first appearance since collecting a gold medal with Team GB in Saturday night’s thrilling Speedway of Nations final.
The Pirates welcome back Vinnie Foord – whose wrist injury in the National League Riders’ event proved not to be as serious as first feared – and his return is a welcome boost as they enter a busy period with tips to Redcar, Glasgow and Workington in addition to four home meetings.
Promoter Dan Ford said: “As things stand we have ridden the fewest league matches in the Championship but have quite a schedule ahead.
“It is crucial that we can are in a strong position heading into those. So a really positive result against Plymouth will be most welcome.
“We know we are going to have to be on it from the first green light and a little more consistent throughout the team than we were against Edinburgh in our last match.”
Poole have already beaten Plymouth at Wimborne Road this season, by 26 points in the BSN Series group stages, but Ford is aware that Nico Covatti had to withdraw just two rides into his comeback from injury while track specialist Kyle Newman managed just one point.
With the announcement of semi-final dates in the KO Cup and BSN Series, the Pirates now have a regular unbroken run of Wednesday nights through to mid-August with the hope of more to follow as they bid to progress in all three competitions.
Poole: Richard Lawson, Tobias Thomsen, Ben Cook, Zach Cook, Tom Brennan, Sam Hagon, Vinnie Foord
Plymouth: Nico Covatti, Alfie Bowtell, Dan Thompson, Kyle Newman, Ben Barker, Joe Thompson, Jacob Hook
Words by George Dodds.
Images by Taylor Lanning.