POOLE Pirates will hope to make a strong start in their pursuit of a third final of the season.
Pirates host Workington Comets at Wimborne Road tonight, Wednesday, September 11, as they aim to maintain their record of being play off finalists for the fourth successive season.
The first of two legs, the tie will be completed in Workington on Saturday, September 14.
Poole have dominated in clashes against Workington this season, scoring 61 and 59 points in the two visits of the Cumbrian side this season so far.
But Pirates promoter Danny Ford is under no illusions of how tough the opposition will be in the play offs.
“We always seem to be the team that other clubs want to see fail and our opponents raise their game when they meet us in these play-offs, but as we have said all season we, as a club, still feel we let our fans down last season in the critically important meetings and desperately want to redress the balance this time around,” Ford said.
“Workington are not going to be easy for sure and looking beyond them, neither will Scunthorpe or Oxford, so there is a very long way to go before we can land the league title back at Wimborne Road.
“But our lads are very much up for the task and over the next few meetings our supporters can really play a vital role with their encouragement and vocal support every time we take to track.
“Obviously, the goal on Wednesday will be to build up a decent lead to take into Saturday's second leg as that will put more pressure on Workington.
“We know we have the riders capable of going to the GT Tyres Arena and doing a job but the more points we can have in the bank the better.
“September is going to be a vital month for the club and every race is going to be a vital one.”
Poole will welcome back Vinnie Foord into the side, as he passed a fitness test on Tuesday after he missed the last eight matches through a serious shoulder injury.
The hosts are also hopeful that Sam Hagon will retake his position in the side after a recurrence of a mouth injury forcing him to miss the Pirates’ KO Cup trip to Scunthorpe last Friday.
The visitors have a catalogue of injury concerns, with long-term absentees Tate Zischke and Claus Vissing still out of action.
Workington are also set to be without number one Craig Cook, who is sidelined with the ill-effects of a dislocated shoulder.
Lewis Kerr, Jason Edwards and Leon Flint will take their places in the side.
Poole: (TM Neil Middleditch): 1: Richard Lawson; 2: Sam Hagon; 3: Ben Cook (Capt); 4: Zach Cook; 5: Tom Brennan; 6: Tobias Thomsen; 7: Vinnie Foord.
Workington: (TM James Denham): 1: Lewis Kerr (Guest); 2: Jason Edwards (Guest); 3: Antti Vuolas; 4: Leon Flint (Guest); 5: Troy Batchelor; 6: Sam McGurk; 7: Paul Starke.
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