Preview: Poole v Peterborough

The No1 Carpet Cleaning Poole Pirates will be looking to take their Bank Holiday form into Thursday night’s Premiership clash against Peterborough at Wimborne Road – but will have to do so without three of their key men.

Brady Kurtz remains sidelined with a shoulder injury sustained at Peterborough last week and although the Australian is having treatment this week, co-promoter Danny Ford admitted it remained unclear how long Kurtz would be out.

The Pirates will operate rider replacement for Kurtz, but are also missing Danish duo Nicolai Klindt and Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen who are both scheduled to ride in the Danish final on Thursday evening.

Swindon’s Adam Ellis guests for Klindt having run in a total of 22 points for the Robins in Monday’s 45-45 draw against the Pirates at the Abbey Stadium and their 51-39 defeat at Wimborne Road earlier in the day.

Former Pirate Paul Starke, meanwhile, steps into the reserve berth in place of Busk Jakobsen.

Starke bagged a paid five score as a guest for the Panthers in their 54-36 triumph over King’s Lynn on Bank Holiday Monday, with fellow ex-Pirates Rohan Tungate (11+1) and Hans Andersen (10) banking double-figure returns.

The Pirates will be looking to build on their Bank Holiday exploits against the Robins, with five Premiership points out of seven secured across their two meetings.

Ford, meanwhile, admitted he had “sympathy” with both the Pirates and Swindon riders after labelling Monday’s Wimborne Road track “below par”.

Ford said: “I understand where the guys are coming from and I feel for the supporters, too, because although the track was an improvement on Good Friday, it was still below par.

“Conditions on Thursday evenings have generally been much better, but we seem to be struggling with the early starts.

“I can assure the supporters and riders that we are doing our best to rectify the issues we’ve had this year so far and we’ll continue to work hard to give the guys a good and safe track to race on.”

Pirates: Jack Holder, Richie Worrall, Adam Ellis (guest), Josh Grajczonek, Rider Replacement for Brady Kurtz, Nico Covatti, Paul Starke (guest).

Panthers: Hans Andersen, Bradley Wilson-Dean, Scott Nicholls, Charles Wright, Rohan Tungate, Aaron Summers, Kasper Andersen (guest).