STEVE Worrall is "over the moon" at committing to Poole for the 2020 season, admitting he was looking to sign for the club as soon as he heard they may be dropping to the SGB Championship.

The Merseysider, who competed for Newcastle in the second tier in the last campaign, is set to ride at number three for Pirates after being confirmed as the club's first arrival for next year.

Worrall, who also raced for Belle Vue Aces in the 2019 Premiership, says Poole's past glories made the switch to Wimborne Road an attractive proposition.

Speaking in a Q & A session on the club's website, the 28-year-old said: "It’s brilliant. When I first heard the rumours that there might be a possibility of Poole dropping down into the Championship, it was something I wanted to try and enquire about because of the heritage and the history of the club.

"I know it’s a bit of a shame for them to be dropping down, but they have their reasons. It’s only good for the Championship. That league now is so strong.

"As soon as I heard it I started enquiring to see if I could get in there and be part of the team. It was great chatting with Matt (Ford) and we managed to put something together and I got myself there which I’m over the moon about."

He added: "When I heard the rumours, it was something that got me excited.

"When you just look at the history and everything else, for them to be dropping down, I can’t imagine that they’re going to go into that league not wanting to win it.

"You come from being multiple time winners in the Premiership to dropping down. I can only imagine that they’re going to want to make a big mark on it so that was something that really interested me.

"I’ve read interviews that Danny (Ford) and Matt have done in newspapers and they said that they had a lot of riders getting in touch and enquiring, the same as myself, to get into the team. That just speaks for itself.

"When you look at the history of the club, why wouldn’t any rider want to be there? It’s exciting.

"They’ve always been in the Premiership and with me being with Belle Vue and being an asset, for the years past it’s never been an option.

"It’s nice to be able to get there now and my relationship with Matt is brilliant so we can put all that together and hopefully it can be a good recipe for success."

Worrall, whose brother Richie rode for Pirates last season, continued: "I had quite a few people interested (in me).

"With my average being quite low, based on performances this year, I kind of fit in well at number three around two other strong heat leaders.

"I did have quite a lot of people getting in touch. I had Poole as an idea of one place I wanted to be and things worked out and we managed to get in touch and do it."

Poole are set to announce their second rider for the 2020 campaign tomorrow evening.