Ipswich’s League Cup visit to Peterborough may well be a dead rubber for the Witches, but captain Danny King sees it as an ideal opportunity for he and his team to work on a few things.

The Foxhall side have already exited the competition after a disappointing start to the group stage but, with a Premier League fixture at the Panthers scheduled for next Monday, May 30, tomorrow’s clash (5pm) provides the Witches with a chance to work on set-ups at the East of England Showground.

King is looking forward to going head-to-head with new Peterborough number one Craig Cook, who signed for the Panthers last week, as he and the rest of the Witches team look to hit top gear following a slow start to the campaign.

“We’re still not all firing how we should be and there are plenty of inconsistencies, but at least we won against Edinburgh on Thursday,” King said.

“We have no pressure on Sunday because it’s the League Cup and we’re already out of that so it’s a good chance for the boys to go there and try a few things if they want to.

“We’ve got a league match there just a week later so it’s a good opportunity for us to work on things, but it will be a tough meeting for sure because they have a very good team led by Craig Cook.

“I’m looking forward to racing Craig and it’s a track I like, it’s where I learnt to ride and had my first league experience in 2002 so it should be good.”

The Witches picked up their first Premier League win of the season with a 48-45 success over Edinburgh on Thursday night, but team manager Ritchie Hawkins insisted his riders still have plenty to prove as they head into Sunday’s fixture.

“It’s a dead rubber but, given the form we’ve been in every fixture is important to us,” he said.

“It’s a chance for the boys to try some new things and try and get themselves ready for the next meeting.

“They’ve also still got to go out and prove to Chris (Louis) and I that they deserve to be wearing the Witches badge. The results are not good and there is no covering that up so it’s a chance for them to go out and show us that they deserve to be here wearing the badge.

“I love the club and when it’s a struggle I feel it and it hurts me like it hurts the supporters, we are working our nuts off to improve the situation.”

Cook’s arrival has seen the Panthers side revamped to accommodate his 10.35 average, with Hawkins unsure how the top heavy team will perform, especially with Tom Perry missing due to injury.

He said: “I don’t know how it is going to work out for them, they are probably set up quite top heavy now.

“I think Tom Perry has been going really well so it’s unfortunate for him that he has picked up an injury. He’s been working hard and has finally made a step up and the poor boy has got injured, you have to feel for him. That makes them weaker as a team and I believe he is the first number seven to jump up into the main body of the team, so we will see. “

Panthers: Craig Cook; r/r for Tom Perry; Ulrich Ostergaard; Emil Grondal; Kenneth Hansen; Simon Lambert; Tom Stokes.

Witches: Danny King; Lewis Kerr; Morten Risager; James Sarjeant; Nico Covatti; Paco Castagna; Ollie Greenwood.