MATT Ford revealed Pirates charger Hans Andersen had offered to forego payment for his first race against Coventry tonight after Friday’s nightmare.

Andersen has been Poole’s leading light in 2016, adding 1.3 to his Elite League average with a series of match-winning performances.

But a rare off night saw the Danish star register one point from three rides in a 47-43 defeat at the Bees, prompting the apologetic proposal.

Ford told the Daily Echo: “Anyone who has met Hans will know how upset he was and he sent a message

telling me not to pay him for his first race in the home match.

“He felt he had let down the team so badly but the truth is he has held together the team so many times this season, getting us victories we perhaps would not have managed otherwise.

“While it is an incredibly kind offer that sums up the way Hans operates, it is not the kind of thing I do and he will be getting paid as normal.

“I really admire his attitude, though. I love the fact he wears his heart on his sleeve and it is the type of commitment I want to see, when someone is hurt so badly by not winning.

“I made clear my point on this earlier in the season. When I don’t see the hurt in people, that concerns me more but when someone tries and has a bad day, you just have take that on the chin.

“On the rare occasions when you feel more effort could have been made, that gets to you more but in Hans’s case, there was no reason to think like that.

“He just needs to put it behind him and crack on with leading the team. I hope he goes out and wins that first heat tonight and I will gladly pay him for it.”

The setback ended Poole’s four-match winning streak and while Ford acknowledged his side’s inconsistencies, he remains behind his one-to-seven.

“This team will have its good and bad days,” he added.

“It is a good team but I can see certain frailties at times and they don’t just come from one rider, they can occasionally appear from any member of the team.

“That makes it hard to see how we could improve but I still have confidence in the team. On our day, we are very capable of beating anyone over two legs and that is the crucial element for me.”

Kyle Newman’s return from a collarbone injury sees Pirates name a full side for only the second time in the 10 meetings since Bjarne Pedersen was brought in to replace a misfiring Davey Watt.

Kacper Woryna returns for Coventry, Adam Roynon again guests for the injured James Sarjeant and Ben Barker stands in for Jason Garrity.

Pirates: (from) Hans Andersen, Krzysztof Buczkowski, Adam Ellis, Chris Holder, Brady Kurtz, Kyle Newman, Bjarne Pedersen. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Coventry: (from) Ben Barker, Josh Bates, Chris Harris, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Danny King, Adam Roynon (guest), Kacper Woryna. Team manager: Gary Havelock.