KLINDT OUT OF STARS RETURN

Struggling Nicolai Klindt has had to "throw in the towel" ahead of Poole's return SGB Premiership fixture against King's Lynn on Thursday.

Having attempted to maintain riding despite serious knee injuries, the 28 year old Dane has been forced to concede that he needs time out of the saddle. He has been struggling to control his bike at times even though he has found himself in good positions. He scored just 1 point from three rides in Poole's 44-49 home defeat against King's Lynn.

Poole boss Matt Ford expressed his sympathies for Nicolai "he was determined to try and ride himself through the pain barrier which was a brave thing to attempt but he is at risk of making the extent of the problem even greater by continuing to battle on whilst so evidently unfit and in so much discomfort. We pulled him out of his final programmed ride tonight as everyone could see he was struggling beyond the call of duty. We will now have to monitor the situation and look again at our options but for tomorrow's meeting at King's Lynn we will operate rider replacement for him."

Under the terms of the facility it means of Klindt's four programmed rides Jack Holder can take one and the other three shared between reserves James Shanes and Paul Starke.

The Pirates slipped to fourth place in the Premiership table after their second successive home league defeat of the season and now trail King's Lynn by a point and having ridden a meeting more than the Norfolk side.

Thursday's teams

King's Lynn - Troy Batchelor, Thomas Jorgensen, Kai Huckenbeck, Robert Lambert (capt), Chris Holder, Lewis Rose, Simon Lambert (Team manager Dale Allitt)

Poole - Krzysztof Kasprzak, Jack Holder, Rider Replacement for Nicolai Klindt, Richie Worrall, Hans Andersen (capt), Paul Starke, James Shanes (Team manager Neil Middleditch)