The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Panthers need a very quick fix
Panthers need to somehow conjure up a replacement for Nicki Pedersen by the time they race their next Premiership fixture.
That’s the firm view of team boss Rob Lyon, who saw his side put on a creditable display at Wolverhampton on Bank Holiday Monday, but the bottom line was a 5040 defeat and a fifth straight loss at the start of the season.
Pedersen was to be the club’s number one rider in 2023, but quit after less than one lap of competitive racing, citing injury concerns after a crash.
Panthers have a break from league action next week as they face Ipswich in the KO Cup, but they then face a critical run of league matches starting in the second half of the month.
Leicester’s Grand Pix star Max Fricke will guest for Panthers against Ipswich on Monday.
If Panthers don’t break the run of reversals when they face King’s Lynn on May 18 (away) or May 22 (home), any prospect of a top four challenge looks set to run away, despite there still being encouraging signs elsewhere in the team. Lyon said: “100 per cent the situation needs to be sorted by that point.
“I did say before the Wolverhampton meeting that winning or losing there wouldn’t affect the bigger picture. We all know what that is, and it needs sorting. I really feel like I’m saying the same old things every week, but it is what it is.
“We were competitive at Wolves, and it just highlights that issue. We don’t want to keep going on about it, but the elephant in the room is the No.1 position.
“You can’t really fault the boys for effort, it was a good performance and Nick Morris did a great job for us. We just missed the points at No.1.”
Morris guested for NielsKristian Iversen who was competing elsewhere and was unlucky to just miss out on qualification from his Speedway Euro Championship event in Hungary, and the Dane will return against Ipswich.
But former favourite Chris Harris, stepping into the spot vacated by Pedersen, was involved in a heavy Heat 1 crash which resulted in significant bike damage.
Harris scored just two points on what is normally one of his favourite circuits, which summed up Panthers’ fortunes in that position.
There’s no doubt Harris would still be a go-to choice when available in the future, and the overall picture is that last August he scored 17 points in a paltry team total of 28 at Monmore, which highlights the improvement elsewhere in the team.
But it is the absence of a full-time solution which is a major concern – and any thoughts that Pedersen could be tempted into a Uturn on his decision to quit must now be completely off the table.
The Dane pulled out of a crucial Polish Ekstraliga fixture for relegation battlers Grudziadz at Krosno over the weekend, stating it was due to track conditions following the injury he suffered at the Showground on opening night.
Panthers, who received a first round bye, host Ipswich in the KO Cup semi-final first leg on Monday (7.30pm) before the return leg at Foxhall next Thursday (May 11).