JASON Crump has revealed he will continue to ride on through the pain barrier in a bid to help Pirates lift the Elite League title.

Racing for the first time with a new brace to protect his injured left knee, the outgoing world champion scored 13 points from five rides for Poole Castle Cover against Coventry on Wednesday.

But the brave-heart, still recovering from a broken knee cap, couldn't stop the Dorset club slipping to a 49-43 reverse in a last heat decider - their first home defeat in 22 matches.

Coventry's victory - the first by the opposition at Wimborne Road since Reading triumphed 48-45 on August 18 last year - installed them as favourites to finish top of the final table.

Peterborough lost 50-40 at Reading last night, but it still looks like Poole will finish fourth and face a one-off semi-final at Brandon on September 17.

Crump, denied a fifth successive home maximum, partly due to his injury, said: "I have been wearing a new knee brace tonight.

"The first race (in which he came second to Chris Harris) was a bit wobbly.

"(With regard to the injury) it is just a matter of getting to the end of the season and getting back to the specialist and seeing what he wants to do.

"But it has been great fun at Poole this year and we are not through yet.

"It looks as though we are going away to Swindon or Coventry in the play-offs. Both will be tough.

"We have a pretty inexperienced team in places and I think we have done extremely well to get where we have been, and we've also been affected by the bad weather.

"It would be a shame if we didn't do well in the play-offs. But with a bit of luck, maybe we can still go all the way."

Crump, beaten into second by Scott Nicholls in the vital heat 15, added: "I was really disappointedwith the last race.

"Scottie was a bit too fast and we (Crump and Bjarne Pedersen) couldn't catch him, which was a bit of a blow.

"But we have had to bounce back a couple of times this year when things haven't gone our way.

"Hopefully we can dig deep and still pull it off in the play-offs.

"I said when I signed for Poole that they rode in front of 6,000 to 7,000 crowds at home in the play-offs and that I wanted to be a part of it.

"And I want to do that again this year."

Crump, who will line up in the Polish Grand Prix at Bydgoszcz on Saturday, continued: "My knee is not brilliant. But I didn't think it would be this quickly.

"I can kind of ride to some sort of level. Hopefully I can do a good job for Poole, but I am not going to win the World Championship on it."