DANNY Ford admits it is “highly unlikely” Poole Pirates’ Knockout Cup final will be arranged before the league play-offs have been completed, describing the situation as “incredibly frustrating”.

Pirates booked their spot in the cup final way back in May with a two-legged win over Oxford Cheetahs.

However, the other semi-final between Redcar Bears and Scunthorpe Scorpions is yet to begin. Dates were scheduled for the meetings in July, but they were postponed due to a poor weather forecast, with no new dates yet found.

All three clubs are now competing in the SGB Championship play-offs.

The group stage is due to be completed by the end of September, before the two-legged play-off final takes place next month.

Pirates are due to face Edinburgh Monarchs at home on September 20, before heading to Armadale on September 29. Between those two meetings is a trip to Scunthorpe (September 22).

Asked for an update on when he hopes to run the two-legged Knockout Cup final, Poole seeking to win it for a third year in a row, Pirates promoter Ford told the Daily Echo: “Unfortunately the play-offs are taking precedence.

“It is incredibly frustrating for us. I can’t even think what month it was we qualified! It was a long time ago.

“We’d have been very keen to get that in because once we’ve done our two (home) play-off fixtures, we might have a week or two sat around where it would be perfect to get a final in, but I think that’s incredibly unlikely based on the fact that Redcar and Scunthorpe are both in the play-offs and they’ll be racing.

“Obviously the play-offs have to take priority. That is the most important thing.

“But we just want to get that done sooner rather than later, because it is obviously important and we are going for the treble.

“We’ve kind of been quite fortunate down in Poole that we haven’t seen the worst of it (the weather).

“A lot of other clubs have really suffered with rain-offs this year, which we need to be sympathetic with. But ultimately it is frustrating for us.”