Klindt debut as Panthers look to down Poole

PETERBOROUGH are set to hand a debut to Nicolai Klindt for their ‘must win’ match against Poole at the Showground on Thursday (7.30pm).

Klindt joined the club on loan last weekend as a replacement for the out-of-form Norbert Kosciuch and the Dane is thrust into the thick of the action as the Readypower Panthers begin their attempt to climb the Elite League table.

With just one victory in seven matches this year the Panthers slipped into the basement position on Monday evening following Coventry’s home victory against Lakeside, but now have two opportunities in the next couple of days to get some vital league points on the board.

They host the Pirates on Thursday - who themselves haven’t enjoyed the best of starts to the season - and then on Friday they travel to Lakeside for what is always a difficult fixture at the tricky Arena-Essex Raceway.

Poole arrive at the Showground without Australian sensation Darcy Ward who broke his shoulder during the Swedish Grand Prix in Gothenburg last Saturday, with Birmingham’s Chris Harris booked as a guest.

The Pirates do, however, still have plenty of top-end power at their disposal with World Champion Chris Holder again in good form this year and the talented Aussie is ably-backed by former World Under-21 winner Maciej Janowski who has made a bright start to life in Dorset after joining the club on loan during the winter.

Peterborough, meanwhile, shuffle their pack a little to accommodate the arrival of Klindt. He will come into the side in the number 2 position to partner skipper Kenneth Bjerre, with Ryan Fisher switching to the number 3 berth to ride with Linus Sundstrom.

It’s nearly two weeks since the Panthers were last in action together following the home loss against Belle Vue, but the riders have been keeping themselves active either racing abroad, testing or practising.

The Danish contingent were all competing in their National semi-finals over the Bank Holiday weekend. Kenni Larsen won his meeting in Holstebro on a 14-point score with Panthers team-mate Patrick Hougaard second on 13. Bjerre surprisingly missed out after losing a run-off for the fifth and final qualifying place and will now be a reserve for the two-legged final which takes place on May 24 at Slangerup and August 30 at Holsted.

Klindt qualified from the other semi-final in Outrup.

Meanwhile, Sundstrom scored 6-points as a wild card in the Swedish Grand Prix in Gothenburg.

Panthers team boss Jan Staechmann said: “We are looking forward to getting back to action at the East of England Showground tomorrow, and it is always a tough test when Poole come to town.

“However, they have had the same indifferent start to the season as ourselves and are also at the wrong end of the table, so both teams will be hungry for success.

“We have had ten days off in the UK, but all the lads have been racing abroad and have all posted good results which we hope will continue in Readypower Panthers colours.

“We welcome Nicolai Klindt to the team, and I hope the fans will come out in force and support the team.”

PETERBOROUGH: Kenneth Bjerre, Nicolai Klindt, Ryan Fisher, Linus Sundström, Kenni Larsen, Patrick Hougaard, Dakota North.

POOLE: Chris Harris, Dawid Stachyra, Chris Holder, Dennis Andersson, Maciej Janowski, Kyle Howarth, Rohan Tungate.