PETERBOROUGH return from the recent break in action with a trip to Belle Vue tonight.

PETERBOROUGH return from the recent break in action with a trip to Belle Vue tonight.

The Readypower Panthers have had a period of inactivity since the home win against Coventry two weeks ago, with the Speedway World Cup having to take centre stage last week.

But it’s back to the bread-and-butter of the Elite League as they head to Manchester with the race to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs still firmly in their sights.

The Aces are still at the foot of the table but are a much-improved side from what they were earlier in the season, having kick-started their campaign with a home win over Wolverhampton in June.

They then gave the Panthers a fright at the Showground, leading by twelve-points in the early stages, but Jan Staechmann’s men staged a dramatic fight-back to eventually win by the narrowest of margins (47-46).

Belle Vue have continued to be competitive in their matches since then, and the recruiting of Artur Mroczka and Ales Dryml has been instrumental in those displays.

The Aces will be without Russian Renat Gafurov due to a commitment in his homeland, so Adam Roynon deputises, but they are boosted by the return from injury of Patrick Hougaard. The Dane’s campaign has been interrupted by two lay-offs to recover from broken collarbones.

But the Panthers head north knowing they really need a victory to keep their Championship hopes alive.

It’s not an easy fixture by any means though but they are boosted by being able to track a full-strength team.

Michael Jepsen Jensen is back in the UK following what was a hugely-successful World Cup campaign for him. The youngster was in stunning form for Denmark during the tournament – particularly in the Race Off and Final – and was arguably the match-winner as the Danes lifted the Ove Fundin Trophy on Saturday night.

Also fresh from his World Cup exploits is Krzysztof Buczkowski who scored a creditable 11 points for Poland in Thursday’s Race Off. The Poles crashed out of the competition at that semi-final stage so were unable to repeat their gold medal success of the previous three years.

The only change Staechmann makes to his side is a positional one which sees Oliver Allen moving up to the number 2 berth, with Buczkowski going to number 5 to partner the reserves in the majority of his rides.

Co-team boss Staechmann said: “It’s good to get back out there racing as for one reason or another it’s been a stop-start season.

“This is a match we are capable of winning – although it will be far from easy as they are very good on their home track – but we must approach it professionally and go there in a positive frame of mind.

“We are coming into a crucial time of the season now as the Elite League starts to take shape and we need to start picking up some away points again to boost our play-off hopes.

“We go into every meeting looking to win – and this one will be no different!”

BELLE VUE: Rory Schlein, Ales Dryml, Patrick Hougaard, Artur Mroczka, Charlie Gjedde, Adam Roynon, Craig Cook.

PETERBOROUGH: Kenneth Bjerre, Oliver Allen, Michael Jepsen Jensen, Linus Sundstr�m, Krzysztof Buczkowski, Richard Lawson, Norbert Kosciuch.