TEAM boss Neil Middleditch promised Poole Pirates would rally round misfiring star Dave Watt – but insisted any resurgence would have to come from within.

Watt became the second Poole rider this season to drop from number one to a second-string berth on the back of 27 points from six Elite League meetings, including a blank scoresheet at King’s Lynn, during May.

The former Wimborne Road captain returned from Lakeside as a heat leader for 2015 and got bumped up to the top role following Chris Holder’s early-season slump and Maciej Janowski’s knee injury.

But Watt, who suffered a broken foot and damaged ankle ligaments while riding in Poland at the end of March, saw his average drop to 6.54 ahead of June while Holder surged back to form.

And Middleditch, who watched Watt kick off his recovery with eight paid nine at Coventry on Monday, urged the charger to follow Holder's lead and seize the initiative this month.

Middleditch told the Daily Echo: “Dave had to come back from a nasty injury but he should be over that now. It was a while ago and he has had plenty of time on the bike.

“As you would expect with a fierce competitor like Dave, he has been very hard on himself and it is my job to try to lift his confidence.

“That is very hard to do because you can see he is down at the moment and the only person who can lift him out of it is himself.

“A lot of riders go through it. Chris (Holder) suffered in a similar way but he looks like he is coming through it now and Dave should take heart from that.

“Chris and I are doing everything we can to pick him up. It is not a nice place to be and Chris knows that more than anybody.

“But there were a lot of encouraging signs at Coventry and we hope that performance will be just the kick-start he needs to get out of his rut.”

Full-strength Pirates host a patched-up King’s Lynn tonight (7.30pm) with Poole asset Josh Grajczonek set to guest for Rob Lyons’s Stars.

Grajczonek stands in for the crocked Rory Schlein, Grand Prix rider Chris Harris deputises for Niels-Kristian Iversen and Kevin Doolan replaces Nicklas Porsing, who is ill with food poisoning.

Poole promoter Matt Ford has reduced to £10 admission prices for adults and concessions for the televised clash.

Pirates: (from) Kacper Gomolski, Chris Holder, Maciej Janowski, Dakota North, Dave Watt, Kyle Newman, Paul Starke. Manager: Neil Middleditch.

Stars: (from) Kenneth Bjerre, Kevin Doolan (guest), Josh Grajczonek (guest), Chris Harris (guest), Rob Lambert, Lewis Kerr, Ash Morris. Manager: Rob Lyon.