DANIEL Davidsson believes bottom-of-the-table Pirates still have a realistic chance of replicating their Elite League title success of last season.

To do that, Poole Castle Cover, boosted by a 46-44 win over Belle Vue at Wimborne Road on Monday, have to climb into a top-six play-off place.

With team changes almost certain to add more firepower to the basement boys after their trip to Swindon tonight (7.30pm), Davidsson feels the key to Pirates successfully kick-starting a faltering campaign is speedway’s new league points scoring system.

The Swede, still waiting to hear whether his team berth is safe beyond tonight, defiantly said: “Of course we can still make the play-offs, and if we do that anything can happen.

“I know it all depends on who comes into the team, but the system of four points for an away win is good for us because we need to play catch-up.

“We need to get our act together, but we’ve proved in the past we are a good away side, although we also need to start picking up the maximum three points for home wins.

“We’ve only ridden a third of the season. It’s no panic.

“If we were down to eight or nine matches left it would be a problem, but we’ve still got 21 to go, so we’ve still got the play-offs in our sight.”

Davidsson, whose side are five points adrift of sixth spot, admitted the whole Poole team had not wanted to create a new club record of nine successive league defeats by losing at home to the Aces.

He added: “It was a relief for everyone to beat them because we all know there are jobs on the line if we can’t turn it around.

“We had a bit of luck on our side against Belle Vue at last after we’d lost by two at their place and lost by seven at Eastbourne and Coventry.

“Just one more race point on a few occasions and we would have had a few more league points and our situation wouldn’t be quite so bad. Now, once any changes have been made, it might be a fresh start for the team and the whole club, and hopefully it will pay off.”

Talking about his own much-needed return to form after getting eight paid 10 at home to Aces, the Swede said: “It felt great. It was a big lift.

“My disappointing form was down to a lot of things, our busy race schedule (seven Pirates meetings in 13 days), a new mechanic who I had to work harder with, and a problem with my two engines and clutches.

“Thankfully, I got an engine back I’d always been using. On Monday, it was my first meeting on that for a long time and it felt good.

“Now we’ll see what we can do at Swindon tonight.”

Pirates asset Antonio Lindback has got a wild card into the Swedish GP at Gothenburg on May 30.