IPSWICH Evening Star Witches stand-in captain Steve Johnston is making sure no-one gets carried away as his side sit top of the Sky Sports Elite League today.

Mike Bacon

IPSWICH Evening Star Witches stand-in captain Steve Johnston is making sure no-one gets carried away as his side sit top of the Sky Sports Elite League today.

The Witches, who beat Belle Vue 52-41 at Foxhall last night, have now won seven consecutive meetings, three away from Foxhall and four at home. It has moved them from bottom in April, to top now, but Johnston wants to keep everyone's feet firmly on the ground.

“Tonight has been another great win for us,” said Johnston

“The wins we have had on the road this week have been superb, bearing in mind they haven't been trouble-free. At Wolverhampton we had about five bikes in bits and were all over the place, but we have come through.

“However, it's early days. Let's not get carried away, as there is a long way to go. It's been a superb week and I'm just sorry we are now not at Foxhall after tonight for two-and-a-half weeks until we meet Poole on June 9.

“I must admit on a personal note I will be glad when my testimonial meeting at Coventry on June 22 is over. There is much to organise and I will be glad to get on a bike that day, knowing all the planning has paid off.”

Pete Simmons, the Witches' team manager, was pleased to get through last night's meeting without star man Jarek Hampel.

“We really missed Jarek tonight and it's making us think how we are going to approach things when the new averages come out,” he said.

“Rider replacement for the absence of Chris Louis may not be enough, but we will have a meeting this week to decide what to do next.

“We made hard work of beating Belle Vue tonight and I have had to use every one of Piotr Swiderski's seven rides.

“We are gelling as a team now and for us to be top of the league is fantastic.”

For Tobi Kroner however things are not so sweet. “I am very low in confidence right now and it is not just because I've moved to number three or anything like that. It's just at the moment I'm struggling around Ipswich, which is not good. This is my home track and I need to do better.”

Robert Miskowiak said: “We have a very good team and it has been a good week. I think if I hadn't hit the tapes in one race I would have won that too and got a maximum.”

Belle Vue boss Chris Morton commented: “We are fighting through a real injury crisis right now.

“If we had our full team it would have been closer. But Ipswich are on a crest of a wave right now and deserved their win. Tai Woffiden did well for us, but we needed more from our reserves.”