PROMOTER Matt Ford is urging Pirates to prove his gut instinct right by gunning for the Elite League summit but admits: “We have a lot to prove.”

The Wimborne Road chief admitted he had considered team changes ahead of the deadline on August 28 but opted to stick with his hit-and-miss stars.

Ford’s play-off plans were thrown into disarray the day after with Hans Andersen suffering a potentially season-ending hand injury and fellow heavyweights Krzysztof Buczkowski and Chris Holder now on the sidelines.

But patched-up Pirates have since beaten title favourites Belle Vue 52-41 and claimed a precious league point at Wolverhampton without all three heat leaders on Monday to give their boss fresh hope of a record-shattering fourth straight championship.

Ford told the Daily Echo: “Wolverhampton bringing in Tai Woffinden for Joonas Kylmakorpi was a fairly clinical move given Kylmakorpi had been riding well.

“That kind of decision is any team’s prerogative. Should we have made changes? I’m still not sure, we will only know that after the season finishes.

“There was a point where we could have made a strong case to and should we fail to win it, everyone would regard it as the wrong call.

“We have failed to deliver at times but some of our boys are still learning.

“Brady (Kurtz) has probably endured a tougher year than he or we might have expected. Bjarne (Pedersen) gave us some impetus but at times, he has been found wanting as well.

“Krzysztof (Buczkowski)’s form seems to have deserted him so collectively, we have a lot to prove.

“The team has been kept together because we have confidence they can achieve something. They all seem to do it on different days but now, we need them all to click.

“This is clearly the toughest year we’ve had in recent times. We are playing catching up with the others but after this past week, no one will be taking us lightly.

“At the moment, the riders are performing when it matters. Bjarne is proving his worth and we need that to be the case across the board, we cannot carry anybody in the semi-finals.”

Andersen has jetted out to Poland for an operation in the hope of taking part in the final round of the European Championship on Saturday, September 17 but Ford insists “there is no saying Hans will get back on a bike this year”.

Rohan Tungate will guest against King’s Lynn tonight and at Belle Vue on Monday. The Aussie, who enjoyed Elite League title success with Pirates in 2011, has also been pencilled in for the fixture at King’s Lynn on Tuesday, September 13.

Ford reports “signs of improvement” with regard to Buczkowski’s wrist injury but that he would not ride competitively before Poole’s match on Monday. Edward Kennett stands in this evening.

Chris Holder remains “touch and go” for tonight but is expected to take part in Saturday’s Grand Prix in Germany. Pirates could bring in a last-minute guest or use rider replacement should he not make it.

Pirates: (from) Chris Holder (subject to fitness), Adam Ellis, Edward Kennett (guest), Brady Kurtz, Rohan Tungate (guest), Bjarne Pedersen, Kyle Newman. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

King’s Lynn: Chris Harris (guest), Robert Branford (guest), Robert Lambert, Kai Huckenbeck, Troy Batchelor, Nicklas Porsing, Carl Wilkinson. Team manager: Rob Lyon.