PETERBOROUGH captain Hans Andersen is back from injury for Thursday’s trip to Poole.
Danish star Andersen has missed the Crendon Panthers’ last four fixtures following his horror crash in the home defeat to Ipswich on July 1.
But he’s now been declared fit to make his comeback as Panthers continue a busy schedule of away matches, with five away trips scheduled for the month of August.
They haven’t scored in the Premiership since the home win over Swindon on June 20, but travel to Wimborne Road in the knowledge that they have very much had the upper hand on the current league leaders in 2019.
Remarkably, three of the Panthers’ five league wins this season have come against the Pirates, with a brace of dramatic 46-44 home victories followed up by a 47-43 triumph in Dorset on their last visit at the end of May, when Andersen and Scott Nichols saw them home in Heat 15.
Andersen takes his place at No.5 as the new averages produce a shift in riding order, with Rohan Tungate taking over at No.1 – with boss Carl Johnson electing to deploy Scott Nicholls at No.2 in a strong opening combination.
Elsewhere in the side, Charles Wright makes his first appearance since being crowned British Champion whilst with Josh Bates still on the sidelines, Panthers have called up Wolverhampton’s Ryan Douglas to guest at reserve.
Johnson said: “It was superb for Charles to win at Belle Vue, and to be fair he’s been our most consistent rider this season, he’s been our stand-out performer.
“He thoroughly deserved the victory, he’s a great lad and he gives absolutely everything to the sport so we’re all really pleased for him.
“We had a good result at Poole earlier in the season although we’re going there with a different team this time and they also have some changes from that meeting.
“But generally up until the last couple of matches we’ve been better away than at home, and it was only in the closing stages at King’s Lynn that we fell away, but we do know we have do to it over 15 races rather than just ten!
“We always go away confident we can keep it close and hopefully get something from the meeting, and having Hans back for this one is a big boost, plus I’m confident Ryan can do the job for us at reserve. It would be good for everyone’s confidence to get a positive result there.”
The home side welcome back Brady Kurtz after an injury absence but are still without Richie Worrall due to a broken ankle, and recent signing Ricky Wells – a successful guest for Panthers earlier this season – is a recent recruit at reserve.
POOLE: Jack Holder, Richie Worrall R/R, Nicolai Klindt, Josh Grajczonek, Brady Kurtz, Nico Covatti, Ricky Wells. PETERBOROUGH: Rohan Tungate, Scott Nicholls, Charles Wright, Ty Proctor, Hans Andersen, Aaron Summers, Ryan Douglas.