SKIPPER HOPING TO GET HIS WISH AS PIRATES HEAD FOR REDCAR

Poole captain Danny King should get his wish of having a full complement of permanent team-mates once again as the Pirates are set to blood Benjamin Basso in to British speedway on Friday (20th August) night at Redcar. 

Second-placed Poole head north again on Friday looking to try and cement their top two placing in the SGB Championship table , which would give them the direct route to the play-off semi-finals,  and King knows the importance of a settled side as the business end of the season approaches. 

"I think we saw on Wednesday just how good it was to have Ben Cook back in the side after his lay-off and to have a full one-to-seven back again will be important with a number of key matches still to come. I believe that our new Dane will be available for Friday and if we can settle him in to the side quickly then it can only be good for the club. We have a great team spirit here at Poole, I benefitted from that first hand on Wednesday when everyone chipped in to help me resolve a clutch issue I had. Those sort of things are so good to see." 

Basso's British debut was delayed when he tested positive to Covid-19 just days before he was due to link up with the Pirates and, although he had to spend isolation time out of the saddle, he made his return for Team Fjelsted in the Danish Metal Speedway League with a top score of 13 points on Wednesday. 

Pirates promoter Dan Ford echoed his captain's views, claiming, "I think the problems we have encountered since making our team change at the end of June have been well documented and we just want to put all of that behind us. The team have been brilliant in that time, especially as we had to cover for young Ben Cook too. The riders we have brought in to cover the void have given their all and we are thankful to all of them but now we just want to get going with our own team once again, although we know it is going to be very tough on Friday at Redcar." 

Poole reserve Ben Cook made his return to the side on Wednesday with a very solid eight points that included two very impressive race wins, against a beleaguered Scunthorpe side. His leg injury was sustained a month ago whilst racing at Redcar, in a guest appearance for the Bears and had been unbeaten from his first two rides that night.  

The Teesside-club have been hit by injuries themselves this season, having lost the services of Jordan Stewart after just two meetings for them and have only recently welcomed back the impressive Anders Rowe after he was side-lined for around three weeks at the beginning of July. But in Charles Wright, Michael Palm-Toft and Jake Allen the Bears have, like Poole, a formidable heat-leader trio and with just two points separating the two sides this meeting has plenty of intrigue about it. 

Teams: 

REDCAR - 1 Charles Wright; 2 James Sarjeant; 3 Jake Allen;  4 Rider Replacement for Jordan Stewart; 5 Michael Palm-Toft; 6  Anders Rowe; 7 Jordan Jenkins - Team manager: Jade Mudgway 

POOLE - 1 Rory Schlein; 2 Benjamin Basso; 3 Steve Worrall; 4 Stefan Nielsen; 5 Danny King; 6 Ben Cook; Danyon Hume - Team manager: Gary Havelock