PIRATES reserve Brendan Johnson has vowed there will be no repeat of the hasty equipment switch that he believes made him “look silly”.

Poole-raised Johnson, who has scored six points in four Elite League meetings for Pirates, emerged with a demoralising zero from last week’s 48-42 win over table-toppers King’s Lynn at Wimborne Road.

Three scoreless outings left the 22-year-old cursing the decision to ditch his engines and instead use those provided by Lakeside rider and close friend Lewis Bridger, as well as his setups.

And ahead of Pirates’ return to action at Wolverhampton on Monday, rookie Johnson insists he has learned from his error.

He told the Daily Echo: “I’ve been in speedway long enough to know that riders have engines that rev differently, but I thought I’d give it a go.

“I like my engines to rev a lot whereas this one was quite flat and I couldn’t get it to work. It made me look silly if I’m honest. I felt so off the pace it was unbelievable.

“As soon as I finished the meeting I took the engines out and fitted mine back in. I won’t be doing that again as it completely threw me. It messed with my head.

“I’ve learned a big lesson that I need to stick with my own stuff. I know it would have been different if I had ridden with my own equipment.

“I know that I can still do a job and now that I’m going to be using my own stuff again and have got my head sorted, I just need to keep doing what I was doing before.

“I need to prove to Matt Ford and Neil Middleditch that I’m still worthy of a team place here.”

Johnson has been given the all-clear to return against Wolverhampton after suffering a stomach complaint at the weekend.

The youngster, who also rides for Mildenhall, suffered from sickness before and during the National Trophy meeting at Leicester Lion Cubs.

Subsequent blood tests revealed nothing untoward and Johnson will take antibiotics for a week in order to help him recover.

Wolves have bolstered their ranks ahead of Monday’s meeting by bringing in club legend Peter Karlsson and Danish ace Lasse Bjerre at the expense of Ty Proctor and Ricky Wells.