PETERBOROUGH wrap up their regular Premiership campaign with a local derby clash against King’s Lynn at the East of England Arena on Thursday (7.30pm).
The Crendon Panthers already know they will be facing Wolverhampton in the play-off semi-finals, but are still looking to end this stage on a high by topping the regular league table.
Victory over the Stars will mean they achieve that feat for the first time at the top level since 2006 – when they went on to take the title in dramatic circumstances.
Panthers will operate rider-replacement at No.1 for Ulrich Ostergaard, whilst at No.2 there is an emotional return for fans’ favourite Simon Lambert as a guest for Bjarne Pedersen.
The Dane retires at the end of the season and is back in his home country for his Farewell meeting on Friday with the blessing of the club, who have been granted a facility for the meeting.
Lambert, who captained Panthers to top spot in the Championship in 2018, has enjoyed a good season at that level with play-off hopefuls Scunthorpe, and will be assured of a warm welcome from supporters of both clubs as he also has strong links with King’s Lynn.
Elsewhere, Panthers operate an unchanged riding order from the surprise defeat to Sheffield, and Hans Andersen will remain at reserve for the trip to Monmore Green in the semi-final next Monday.
King’s Lynn operate rider-replacement at No.1 with Richard Lawson on the injured list, and include former Peterborough rider Ben Barker at No.2.
The Stars have enjoyed some improved results since the appointment of Alex Brady as team manager, and a win would maintain their outside chances of avoiding the Premiership’s wooden spoon.
Panthers skipper Scott Nicholls said: “We got beaten by the better team on Monday, it was a night to forget, and we need to address what went wrong ahead of the play-offs.
“We want the win on Thursday, that’s for sure, so let’s just do the business and we’ll go from there.”
PETERBOROUGH: Ulrich Ostergaard r/r, Simon Lambert, Michael Palm Toft, Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris, Hans Andersen, Jordan Palin. KING’S LYNN: Richard Lawson r/r, Ben Barker, Erik Riss, Lewis Kerr, Thomas Jorgensen, Connor Mountain, Kasper Andersen.