PREVIEW: PIRATES v LIONS - SGB PREMIERSHIP - 25TH JULY

Having seen victory snatched from their grasp on Monday night at King's Lynn, the Volvo Cars Poole Pirates will be determined to post a match win when they entertain Leicester at Wimborne Road on Wednesday night (7.30pm)

Currently the Pirates sit two points below a play-off spot with Leicester a further point behind, although the Lions have the advantage of a match in hand. Monday's defeat by King's Lynn allowed the Norfolk club to climb above the Pirates so there can be no room for any slip-ups over the course of the second half of the season.

Poole have 11 matches to complete, three of which are against Leicester, although the date for the second visit of the Lions has still to be agreed between the two clubs.

In their only completed contest this season it was the Pirates who ran out winners, by virtue of two maximum heat advantages in the final heats when the sides met in Leicester on July 9th, but changes have been rung since then.

One constant for the Lions is popular Dane Hans Andersen, who along with Charles Wright and Ricky Wells featured prominently in that earlier clash. But since, the Lions have undergone a radical team restructuring which brought in Scott Nicholls, Stuart Robson - both victims of Rye House's closure - Josh Auty and Connor Mountain with Kenneth Bjerre, Krystian Pieszczek, James Sarjeant and Todd Kurt all making way.

The Pirates' personnel change, was somewhat more modest , coming about after Linus Sundstrom asked to be discounted from the side and Poole boss Matt Ford found an ideal replacement as Chris Harris was left looking for a SGB Premiership berth as another casualty of Rye's demise.

A triple British Champion, Harris makes his home debut as a Pirate, just 48 hours after his battling top score of 9 points at King's Lynn on Monday.

Both Brady Kurtz and Josh Grajczonek will be beneficiaries of the a hand-out from the Riders' Equipment Fund ahead of the meeting .

Teams (from)
Poole: Josh Grajczonek (capt), Chris Harris, Brady Kurtz, Richie Worrall, Kacper Woryna, Frederik Jakobsen, Nicolai Klindt- TM Neil Middleditch
Leicester: Hans Andersen (capt), Josh Auty, Scott Nicholls, Ricky Wells, Charles Wright, Connor Mountain, Stuart Robson TM Dave Darcy