PIRATES veteran Craig Boyce believes skipper Bjarne Pedersen prevented the Poole ship from sinking without trace last week.

The Dorset side hope to sail their way out of a stormy six-match losing streak when they face Wolverhampton at Wimborne Road tonight.

Sick stars Antonio Lindback and Grzegorz Walasek are set to return to action after sitting out the past five fixtures.

In their absence, number one Pedersen was forced to work overtime. And Boyce had nothing but admiration for the Dane's phenomenal 76-point haul from five meetings.

The 39-year-old said: "We can't expect Bjarne to go out and win every race. But last week, it seemed he had to do just that.

"The team would be in a really sticky situation without Bjarne and I take my hat off to him for the points he scored."

Former Poole captain Boyce has spent almost 11 seasons on and off at Wimborne Road since he made his British debut on April 8, 1988.

During his lengthy career on the South Coast, the Australian has enjoyed mixed fortunes and is determined to bring a halt to what has been poor run of form.

He added: "I've had plenty of tough weeks in my time as a Pirate but last week was as tough as they come.

"We didn't have Anton and Greg and our guests struggled to score. This meant the guys who were left, took five rides per night and that took its toll on us.

"It's not good for the supporters to see us losing but what can we do when we haven't got the riders?

"With a full team should come a big turnaround in results though and we should be alright against Wolves."

Poole RIAS Pirates are set to go into Wednesday's Elite League encounter with a full-strength side for the first time in almost three weeks.

But Wolves operate rider replacement for German youngster Christian Hefenbrock, who is suffering with a virus.