PETERBOROUGH finally ended their away-day blues with a well earned point at Swindon, but stand-in skipper Linus Sundström still believes there is more to come from the City side.
The decimated Panthers, missing Nicki Pedersen, Troy Batchelor and Kacper Gomolski, battled throughout and were inspired by guest Kenneth Bjerre.
The ex-Panther lost only once to an opponent on his way to a 16 point haul, and he formed a potent partnership with Sundström as they gained four heat advantages together.
The Swedish star notched an impressive paid 12, while Krzysztof Buczkowski had his best away meeting for some time with nine points.
The Panthers clearly missed the presence of teenager Gomolski at reserve on a track that should have suited the young Pole, as the home reserves outscored the Panthers duo of guest Kyle Hughes and Richard Lawson 12 to three.
Sundström, captained the side for the first time in the absence of Nicki Pedersen (preparing for the second leg of the Danish Final) and Troy Batchelor (ill with bronchitis), was disappointed that his team only came away with a point.
He said: "We made too many mistakes on the track today. When we didn't gate, it was really hard because it was difficult to overtake and Swindon were quick. But when we did gate we got overtaken because we rode too wide and they got us up the inside a lot.
"It was looking really dark at one stage, we were eight points down at the interval, so I guess a point isn't too bad. We were missing Troy and he goes really good round here, but the boys tried their hardest. Just a few mistakes cost us from getting more."
And Sundström believes the Readypower Panthers can push on towards the play-offs if they can track a full-strength septet.
He added: “Soon we will have a full team again, because Kacper is coming back and Dakota is too. The future is looking bright and we should only get stronger from here but we need to make sure we nick some points away. We will get better."
It all began superbly once again with an opening race 5-1 but the Panthers suffered from the generosity of referee Graham Reeve in Heat 2.
New Swindon signing Sergey Darkin skittled Premier League guest Kyle Hughes after picking up coming out of the second turn.
It would normally have ended in his automatic exclusion but the official took account of track conditions and allowed him back into the re-run and Darkin teamed up with his partner for a maximum.
Ex-Panther Kenneth Bjerre was a brilliant replacement for the absent Pedersen, dropping his only points to Simon Stead.
Otherwise he was untouchable with five speedy wins and had solid support from Sundström and Krzysztof Buczkowski who scored in all five of his rides.
But there wasn’t enough support from the three remaining riders.
Panthers were heavily outscored at reserve, the Swindon duo Darkin and Gathercole collecting a dozen points while Richard Lawson and Hughes, in for the still injured Kacper Gomolski, had only two third places between them.
And Norbert Kosciuch was a frustrating model of inconsistency. He claimed a race win over British Champion Scott Nicholls but also trailed home last in three of his other four outings.
SWINDON 47: Scott Nicholls 10, Maciej Janowski 8:2, Sergey Darkin 7:1, Simon Stead 7:1, Jesper B. Monberg 6:2, Cory Gathercole 5, Nicolai Klindt 4:1.
PETERBOROUGH 43 (Kenneth Bjerre 16, LinusSundström 10:2, Krzysztof Buczkowski 9, Norbert Kosciuch 5, Richard Lawson 2:1. Kyle Hughes 1, rider replacement for Troy Batchelor.