MATT Ford is adamant that Coventry talisman Chris Harris will win his fitness race for Friday’s Elite League play-off semi-final and expects Pirates skipper Maciej Janowski to face him.

Harris, nicknamed Bomber, sustained ankle, wrist and elbow injuries in a heavy spill in Poland on Sunday and had been due to see a specialist this week in order to accelerate his recovery.

But despite concerns in the Brandon camp, Pirates chief Ford believes that the Grand Prix charger will take his place at the tapes in the rescheduled first-leg clash.

Ford told the Daily Echo: “It would be a big body blow for Coventry to lose Chris, the same as it would be for us with Maciej.

“Chris is hard to replace as he is a very good rider and had the meeting had gone ahead on Monday as had originally been planned, it’s very possible he would have missed it.

“But I have no doubt that Chris will line up on Friday. He’s a tough character. We’ve seen him go over on his head before and he’s bounced back up and run back to the pits.

“I have no doubt that he’s going to take his place.”

Janowski required stitches for an elbow injury that he picked up in Saturday’s Slovenian Grand Prix but scored seven paid eight for Wroclaw 24 hours later.

And Ford says that a lack of correspondence from Janowski has convinced him that the Wimborne Road skipper is on the mend.

Ford added: “I think he is making slow progress. He has not been in touch and that’s normally a good sign. I don’t foresee his fitness being a problem.

“He didn’t win a race on Sunday, which is unusual. But he was still on the pace and scoring in each heat, so that was positive.

“The fact we rescheduled the meeting from Monday to Friday may prove a small help to him.

“Maciej is our talisman, in particular this year – he has been crucial to the club.

“I keep hearing on Sky about us losing and drawing a couple of home matches against Coventry and Belle Vue – opposition that are in the play-offs.

“But on both of those occasions, Maciej was not available. So having him present is a huge bonus to everybody in the team.”

Ford also confirmed that reserve Kyle Newman was fully fit following a minor scare on Saturday. The Plymouth man had suffered from dizziness following a spill at Rye House but made a swift recovery.

  • Belle Vue seized control of the other play-off semi-final as they racked up a 50-36 victory over Swindon at Kirkmanshulme Lane on Monday. Guest Andreas Jonsson top-scored for the hosts with 11 points.