IPSWICH Witches promoter John Louis has said Piotr Swiderski's place in the Witches line-up is secure, despite the Pole experiencing a desperate run of results.

IPSWICH Witches promoter John Louis has said Piotr Swiderski's place in the Witches line-up is secure, despite the Pole experiencing a desperate run of results.

Swiderski, who took the speedway world by storm in 2008, has endured a miserable run, which has cost the Witches points, as they continue to languish in the bottom three in the Elite League table.

But Louis won't have Swiderski put down - for now at least - ahead of tonight's Elite League clash at Foxhall against Eastbourne.

“I feel a bit sorry for Piotr to be honest,” Louis said.

“He turns up in good time, has a big smile on his face, goes about getting himself set up well, but it just isn't happening on the track.

“Don't get me wrong, we are not happy about his scores and it is up to him to work out what on earth is going wrong. We are supporting him all he can, and Chris (Louis) has looked at some of his bikes.

“It's a dilemma for him and us. But I was a rider once and I know you have got to work things out yourself.

“But Piotr can ride, he knows he can ride, and at the moment his place is secure, we want him to come good.”

Swiderski's low scores have seen the Witches throw away points at home, as visiting sides pick up a point for losing by less than six.

And with Hans Andersen joining Poole Pirates yesterday, the Witches 2009 season is going to need to start to get moving.

Poole, the current Elite League champions have moved to strengthen their side with Andersen joining Bjarne Pedersen and Chris Holder in a heat-leader trio which is sure to fire the Pirates up the table

It means the Witches will need to begin to claim three points on a regular basis at Foxhall, as well as pick up a few points away, if they are also to follow Poole in the right direction.

But will the Witches make changes?

“If we want to make changes, we will have to make multiple changes,” Louis added.

“People say there are loads of riders about, but not second strings. Yes, there are plenty of GP riders who haven't got a club, but just bringing one of them in isn't easy, it would need more than one change.”

Tonight the Eagles are hoping Davey Watt is able to race. He suffered a groin injury at Lakeside last week and didn't ride in Sweden on Tuesday night.

David Norris is also out with an arm injury, while Chris Schramm returns to Foxhall as one of the Eagles reserves.

Teams: Ipswich: 1 J Hampel, 2 L Lanham, 3 T Kroner, 4 D King, 5 P Swiderski, 6 D Staychra, 7 C Wilkinson.

Eastbourne: 1 D Watt, 2 R/R, 3 L Bridger, 4 C Woodward, 5 L Dryml, 6 R Kling, 7 C Schramm