CO-PROMOTER Danny Ford admitted it had been a “baptism of fire” to regularly patch up Pirates as their injury issues continued.

Poole are set to head to SGB Premiership rivals Ipswich tomorrow (7.30pm), once again without four of their regular septet.

Brady Kurtz, Richie Worrall, Nico Covatti and Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen have all been ruled out through injury.

Kyle Newman, Kevin Doolan and Ricky Wells have been booked as guests – with the Dorset club using rider replacement for injured star Kurtz.

Danny Ford, who has spent this season working under club owner, his father Matt, told the Daily Echo: “It’s been really tough. I think now more so now than ever, because there is a massive shortage of riders. It really is tough to find decent guests.

“It’s definitely been a baptism of fire but fingers crossed we have had our share of bad luck for the season now.”

He added: “Ideally we would go to Ipswich with a full-strength team and give it a go. But we will go there, hopefully cause some problems and see what we can do.”

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

Poole: 1 r/r for Brady Kurtz, 2 Kyle Newman, 3 Nicolai Klindt, 4 Josh Grajczonek, 5 Jack Holder, 6 Kevin Doolan, 7 Ricky Wells.