PIRATES team boss Neil Middleditch reckons his septet could be on course for an Elite League play-off duel with Wolverhampton – if Belle Vue top the regular season standings.

The top team after 28 meetings earns the right to pick their semi-final opponents but Middleditch reckons Belle Vue would not be keen on a last-four clash with the Wimborne Road side.

Middleditch believes Wolves would be more likely opponents for his team as Pirates continue their bid to earn a fourth straight top-flight crown – a feat unprecedented in the Elite League era.

Speaking ahead of tonight's trip to Swindon (7.30pm), Middleditch told the Daily Echo: "If we finished second behind Belle Vue then I don't think they would pick us, so it looks like it could be Wolverhampton.

"But mathematically, we are still in with a very good shout of making top spot.

"We have some very tough meetings coming up and quite a few away fixtures but if we fire as a unit then we are a very hard team to beat.

"We've finished top of the league before and not won the play-offs so it's not necessarily the be-all and end-all.

"I don't really fear anybody over two legs if we are all working together.

"We've made up some great ground over the past few weeks and the other teams going for the play-offs will see we are coming on strong and will not want to meet us."

Swindon are also chasing a play-off spot and Middleditch added: "It is a meeting they really need to win but so do we."

Pirates' trip to Leicester on Saturday was postponed, a fixture for which Poole duo Hans Andersen and Brady Kurtz were unavailable.