IPSWICH-born Scott Nicholls lines up for Coventry against Belle Vue tonight after the Brandon club reached agreement with the BSPA over the redeclared line-up.

IPSWICH-born Scott Nicholls lines up for Coventry against Belle Vue tonight after the Brandon club reached agreement with the BSPA over the redeclared line-up.

The points scored by GP rider Nicholls on his debut against Ipswich recently were deducted after the SCB ruled Coventry's new line-up was 'illegal.'

But Coventry owner Avtar Sandhu, in a statement on the club's website, said: "We would firstly like to place on record our thanks to chairman Peter Toogood for his invaluable help in resolving the various issues of the last fortnight.

"We remain far from happy with the circumstances which led to our team being rejected, but we have chosen to sacrifice our principles on this occasion for the overall good of the sport.

"We recognise that at this time the BSPA have more important matters to deal with, including their investigations into the recent Swindon v Poole and Peterborough v Poole matches, and they need to be free to fully concentrate on this and get to the bottom of some very serious allegations.

"Scott Nicholls has agreed a deal to race for the club for a minimum of 28 days, or until such time as Olly Allen is fit to return to the team.

"For that period of time, we have agreed that Jordan Frampton will stand down from the team, and we would like to thank him for his understanding of the position we found ourselves in. He is still very much part of our plans, and he will return when Olly is fit to come back himself.

"I am very sorry for disappointing the people who appeared convinced that I would respond to this situation by closing the club down and pulling out of the sport. This has never been my intention.

"We hope that if some good can come out of this episode, it is that speedway is run according to regulations which are put in black and white at the start of the season, and are not 'unofficially' added to without everyone's knowledge.

"Our intention has always been to track the best team that we can for our supporters, within the rulebook.

"The stance we took has clearly thrown up several issues for the sport to consider, but in the short-term we feel it is important now for us to focus on the important matches ahead, and for the BSPA to focus on their other matters in hand."