TEAM Great Britain international Tai Woffinden has tipped fellow countryman Scott Nicholls to be Vargarna's trump card in the Swedish Elitserien title race.

TEAM Great Britain international Tai Woffinden has tipped fellow countryman Scott Nicholls to be Vargarna's trump card in the Swedish Elitserien title race.

The five-time British champion endured a nightmare 2009 season, which saw him crash out of the Grand Prix series after finishing 15th in the overall standings with 45 points.

His struggles in the World Championship hurt his form in the Polish and Swedish leagues, but Nicholls' 5.65 average in the Elitserien means he can start the new season at reserve for the Wolves.

The club missed out on the championship in the play-off final as Lejonen claimed their second straight title last term. But Woffinden has no intention of letting the Lions complete a hat-trick, and feels Nicholls could be the key to his side's hopes of stopping them.

He said: “It would be nice to win that one and I'm sure everyone will give it everything.

“In Scott, we already have a strong reserve and it shows how good the teams are in Sweden that we can have him there. We've got a pretty strong team and hopefully, we can go one better than last year.”

Nicholls' nightmare season also saw him miss out on a spot in Rob Lyon's Team GB squad for the Speedway World Cup.

But Woffinden is confident the Ipswich racer will hit top form again in 2010 and play a key role in his country's bid to reach their first SWC Final since 2007.

He said: “As he has said, he had a tough year in 2009, but everyone has a tough year. I'm sure Scott will come back bigger and better and that will put British speedway a step closer to taking a World Cup.

“I'm sure he wants to ride for Britain when he has a few wins under his belt again and his confidence is up. If you get on a roll, anything is possible in speedway.”

Speedway gp.com