PREVIEWING: PIRATES V ROCKETS - 16TH MAY 2018

Rivalry renews against the Rye House Rockets on Wednesday night as the Volvo Cars Poole Pirates seek swift revenge for their last time out defeat by the Hoddesdon side.

Whilst Poole returned from Hertfordshire with a point the feeling in the camp was it deserved to be more but the underlying sentiment was one of positivity with the Pirates generally much sharper inspite of their sixth consecutive defeat.

"We were considerably more competitive on Monday than we have been and that will help develop confidences within the side" voiced Matt Ford, "but we still have plenty of room for improvement and that needs to begin immediately. If we can post a couple of league wins on the board and start the charge towards the play-off positions then those confidence levels will rise further."

"Over the next few matches we will begin to establish new averages and that will give us a better picture of our options should we decide to make further changes as I am mindful of not making the same mistakes this year as I did last season."

Ford admitted that he had been too patient last year and failed to act fast enough as the Pirates went through a barren period and were carrying riders. One such was Krzysztof Kasprzak who, once released switched to Rye House and instantly rediscovered his form with a paid maximum against Poole on 10th August.

Kasprzak returns tomorrow again with the Rockets who have former British champions Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls amongst their number along with Edward Kennett who replaced Kasprzak in the Poole side last year.

Wednesday will give home fans the chance to see new recruits Stefan Nielsen and Richie Worrall for the first time this season both of whom have been brought into the team since the Pirates last rode as a seven-man collective at Wimborne Road mid-April.

Teams (from)

Poole: Josh Grajczonek, Brady Kurtz, Linus Sundstrom, Richie Worrall, Kacper Woryna, Stefan Nielsen, Mateusz Szczepaniak - Team manager: Neil Middleditch

Rye House: Chris Harris, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Edward Kennett, Scott Nicholls (capt), Aaron Summers, Max Cleg & TBC - Team manager: Peter Schroeck