MATT Ford admits the situation regarding Chris Holder's availability is "becoming unsolvable" and has vowed to "press ahead" in order to prevent Pirates losing further ground in the play-off race.

Despite agreeing a deal in the winter, former world champion Holder has yet to turn a wheel for bottom-of-the-table Poole this season as he has been battling visa issues.

And with a third of the SGB Premiership campaign gone, promoter Ford – who has made a string of unsuccessful approaches to top stars – says he must proceed with a definitive path.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's home clash with Leicester (7.30pm), he told the Daily Echo: “The problem is becoming unsolvable and we have to move forward with thinking about the club for the rest of the season.

“Potentially, we are not going to be able to put Chris back in the team.

“The club needs to make sure we know which angle we are pressing ahead with. The decisions I’m making now are for the campaign, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

“We've waited until June and clearly the issue has not been resolved so we need to press ahead, instead of holding fire and leaving ourselves vulnerable.

"We have points available to us so we have the option to use them."

Belle Vue asset Richie Worrall was signed by Ford earlier this month in order to provide short-term cover for Holder. And Nicolai Klindt is due to link up with his parent club in a fortnight, replacing Paul Starke.

Ford revealed how his attempts to lure a big gun to Wimborne Road had repeatedly hit the buffers and explained he had been forced to seek an alternative route.

He said: “Richie has come in and done a reasonable job. My thoughts are that, potentially, I would like to keep him.

“If we kept him and Nicolai in the team, we would still have nearly a point to play with, which I could use to shore up other parts of the team.

“We have options available to us but it won’t be any of the big guys.

“Even those who have been loyal to British speedway – Freddie Lindgren and Matej Zagar – are not willing to come to Britain at this point.

“The same applies to many of those who are not in the GPs but are exceptional riders – Jarek Hampel, Andreas Jonsson, Antonio Lindback and Leon Madsen. All of those have been tried.

“Sadly, the big stars of the sport are finding Britain obstructive and so it’s becoming difficult to entice them. Finances are such that some riders are preferring to attend practice in Poland rather than race in Britain."

Leicester have booked Rye House's Chris Harris to guest in the absence of Kenneth Bjerre, who is racing in the Danish League.

Pirates: Brady Kurtz, Linus Sundstrom, Josh Grajczonek, Paul Starke, Richie Worrall, Mateusz Szczepaniak, Kacper Woryna.

Leicester: Chris Harris (guest), Kyle Newman, Danny King, Krystian Pieszczek, Hans Andersen, James Sarjeant, Todd Kurtz.