POOLE Pirates boss Neil Middleditch insisted he had “great faith” in his riders to address the stark contrast between home and away performances.

Pirates have wiped the floor with Swindon, Coventry and Lakeside on home shale in 2016 but Monday’s 20-point beating at Wolverhampton followed the surrender of strong positions at Lakeside and Coventry.

The mixed start has already seen one team change with Bjarne Pedersen replacing Davey Watt but while the team manager called on his side to hit back in tonight’s home clash with Wolves (7.30), he is also advocating a calm approach.

Middleditch told the Daily Echo: “It is early days and I am not running for the lifeboats just yet. It was a lacklustre performance at Wolverhampton but in speedway, you cannot be great every week.

“I still have great faith in the boys and when we fire on all cylinders, we are a very dangerous outfit. It is up to us to prove how dangerous we can be and it is simple, we have to bounce back.

“There is some concern but I wouldn’t say I am worried. With the weather, we haven’t had any real continuity to get the ball rolling properly yet.

“It takes time to settle in and we have only had half a dozen meetings so I’m not panicking.”