PROMOTER Danny Ford believes the concept of fans voting for rider involvement in the SGB Premiership Supporters’ Cup is a “great idea” – providing some issues get “ironed out”.

Team managers have to put forward four of their septet to feature in heat 14 of the competition this season, with the two most popular options in the online Twitter poll taking the ride in the penultimate heat.

The social-media fuelled strategy – run on each club’s official Twitter account – is open to all users, meaning rival fans could vote against in-form riders to thwart their opposition.

But Ford insists getting supporters involved shows the unique nature of the sport.

A draw at Swindon followed by defeat to the Robins at home has seen Pirates pick up two points from as many meetings in the competition so far.

They host Ipswich in the Southern Group at Wimborne Road tomorrow (7.30pm).

Asked for his views on the heat 14 Twitter vote, Ford told the Daily Echo: “Getting supporters involved is a great idea. I can’t think of many other sports where fans would have that level of involvement.

“The fans have always got their own perspective of how things are going, so it’s nice for them to have their say. I think the concept is absolutely brilliant, it just needs a little bit of ironing out.

“It would have been nice to have trialled these things in challenge matches before the cup started but we have to work with what we have now and I am sure these problems will get ironed out as the next round of matches come.”

Ford himself led the design and build of the club’s new website, which went live last month.

Asked what he would do differently to revamp the cup, he replied: “Personally, because I come from a fairly technical background, I’d have done it a little differently but I wasn’t in the room when the decision was made.

“I would have made it so that people had to create an account first on a website and then they did the vote through the website.

“But it’s a brilliant idea and it may be open to change next year.

“It’s great to get supporters involved and let them have their own say.”

With two victories from four meetings, Ipswich are second in the group with six points.

The winners of each group will race over two legs in a final against the top team in the Northern Group, which includes Belle Vue, Wolverhampton and Peterborough.

Poole are without star Brady Kurtz after he was involved in a crash while racing for Swedish side Vetlanda on Tuesday. Scott Nicholls will guest in his place.

Pirates: 1 Jack Holder, 2 Richie Worrall, 3 Nicolai Klindt, 4 Josh Grajczonek, 5 Scott Nicholls, 6 Nico Covatti, 7 Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen.

Ipswich: 1 Chris Harris, 2 Richard Lawson, 3 David Bellego, 4 Krystian Pieszczek, 5 Danny King, 6 Cameron Heeps, 7 Jake Allen.