BELLE Vue boss Mark Lemon insisted Poole Pirates had set “the benchmark for British speedway” and labelled as “short-sighted” the club’s critics.

Former Pirates charger Lemon, who was contracted to the Dorset side for the duration of his British riding career, will aim to boost the Aces’ play-off hopes with a shock victory at Wimborne Road tonight (7.30pm).

And the Kirkmanshulme Lane team boss is under no illusions about the task ahead, insisting it would be no shock if Poole were to secure an unprecedented third straight Elite League title come the end of the season.

Lemon told the Daily Echo: “You have to look at Poole as the benchmark for British speedway at the moment. For the past 10 years, they have been the business so it doesn’t surprise me that they are in this situation.

“They are a wise old camp down there – they choose and place their riders very well so they deserve credit for that.

“Time and time again, they track a team that delivers and it is an amazing achievement to have won six league titles in the past 12 years.

“You would have to be pretty foolish not to recognise that the way they go about their business is to be admired.

“They are perceived as the Manchester United of speedway and they do things in an admirable way, and if people feel that is detrimental to the sport then that is very short-sighted.”

Belle Vue secured a vital 52-41 home win over Lakeside on Monday which enabled them to retain third place in the Elite League standings.

But Lemon, who is also Australia team boss, knows his septet face a huge task to stun Poole on their own shale, the reigning champions having hit the 60-point mark three times in their past four home meetings.

The Aces team boss added: “It would certainly help our push for the play-offs to get a result down in Dorset.

“We managed to get a draw there in April but the Pirates are no pushovers round Wimborne Road. Last time they had a few riders who were off-colour but I can’t imagine that will happen again.

“Of course I’m very aware of some of the riders in the team and their abilities, so I’m not surprised by their recent home form.

“Hopefully, we can push them hard and get as many points as we can.”

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

Aces: (from) Craig Cook, Max Fricke, Josh Grajczonek, Scott Nicholls, Matej Zagar, Stefan Nielsen, Steve Worrall.