AMBITIOUS Dave Watt is desperate to shake off his heat-15 watching brief and make a swift return to the Elite League's showpiece races.

The 37-year-old Pirates star has experienced an up-and-down year so far having struggled with fitness and form.

Watt suffered a broken left foot and damaged ankle ligaments days before the start of the campaign and upon his return at the beginning of May, the ex-Lakeside man struggled to deliver from the number-one spot.

However, he totalled a combined 29 points in Poole's three most recent fixtures, a tally picked up in two meetings against Coventry and a clash with King's Lynn, which coincided with Watt dropping to a second-string berth,

And the Queenslander is keen to impress team manager Neil Middleditch further so he can add to the two heat 15s he has been handed in the Elite League this term.

Watt told the Daily Echo: "I expect myself to be in heat 15 and I look to score enough points to get in there. But when you have a strong team like we have and a confident bunch of guys who are all scoring points, they are pretty hard to come by.

"It's really cool that as a team that we're in that position but quite frustrating when you want to be in heat 15 and you're watching your mates out there.

"But I feel a bit more normal now, to be honest. I expect double figures from myself or at least something around that from four rides, so it's quite nice to be confident of getting those scores going into meetings.

"At the start of the year it was difficult because I was injured and not happy with the set-ups, engines and bikes, and I wasn't confident of scoring anything.

"It was really hard work to get back to normal and I feel it's been a long time coming. When things are going well as they are now, it's due to a lot of hard work. You don't fluke anything in speedway, you make your own luck.

"I'm certainly comfortable at the moment. I need to be harsh and critical of myself to progress and make sure I make the right decisions in the pits and on the track."

Watt made six outings for Pirates at number one in May and averaged less than five points per meeting. But since switching to a second-string role he has picked up an average of more than nine points per fixture.

The popular charger added: "When you are not going well and you make mistakes, you blame everyone else.

"It's pretty cool to look at things and think it was my fault instead of thinking that everyone beat me up in the first corner. It's important that I look at myself instead of elsewhere."