MANAGER Neil Middleditch vowed to ignore the critics after defending his Great Britain team selection for Event Two of the Speedway World Cup.

Middleditch admitted the job was tough after he had come in for some stick, particularly over his decision to pick Edward Kennett ahead of Richie Worrall.

But the experienced Pirates and GB team boss insists he has made the right call going into Event Two at King’s Lynn’s Norfolk Arena tonight (7.30pm).

Great Britain will lock horns with favourites Denmark, depleted Sweden and the USA for the one automatic qualification place for the final.

And after selecting Kennett and Craig Cook alongside captain Chris Harris and Grand Prix star Tai Woffinden, Middleditch explained his thinking.

He told the Daily Echo: “You are never going to please everybody. You try to pick a team which is going to be good on the day.

“Hopefully, I have picked the right team. If we don’t do well at King’s Lynn, I will make changes.

“If I worried about what people said about me, I wouldn’t go to speedway sometimes. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and I respect that.”

While GB will be desperate to book a final place, they will have to overcome a powerhouse Denmark team to join hosts Czech Republic and qualifiers Poland.

Second or third place will see Middleditch’s men travel to Prague for a race-off against Australia, Latvia and one from the Event Two line up while the backmarkers will be eliminated.

Denmark are captained by Niels-Kristian Iversen, with multiple world champion Nicki Pedersen also joined by Kenneth Bjerre and Michael Jepson Jensen. Pirates asset Dennis Andersson will ride for a makeshift Sweden side, with Greg Hancock named in the USA line-up.

On home shale, Poland cruised through yesterday’s Event One showdown with five heats to spare.

Poole rider Maciej Janowski (12) and asset Krzysztof Kasprzak (13) both picked up three heat wins from five races, while Aussie Darcy Ward (13) won his first three before drifting away in the latter stages.