The city side lived up to their monicker perfectly when speedily and savagely tearing a pack of Wolves (who admittedly possessed as little punch as Audley Harrison) to shreds last night.

Not a single spectator could possibly have left the Showground anything other than seriously impressed by Trevor Swales' side.

Only a couple of nasty, but thankfully not seriously damaging, crashes for Claus Vissing (one in heat two after a snapped chain and another in the 11th contest when he ploughed into the second bend fence) marred another mightily encouraging display in what could well have been a dress rehearsal for a relegation scrap early next month.

But the prospect of having to beat the Midlands men over two legs to preserve top-flight status certainly should not be a daunting one for Panthers based on this evidence.

As paid 10-point man Lukas Dryml testified: "We have had so many good nights lately and this result was a great one.

"Everyone is riding well and trying to prove they should be back next year."

Panthers bosses called for their side to issue a statement of intent ahead of that possible play-off meeting against the same basement boys – and it was a job well done.

By the time Wolves woke up, smelt the coffee and realised their top-flight status is in serious jeopardy, Panthers already had the points in the bag.

A visiting team packed with Showground experience and Peterborough links did make things slightly more interesting in the second half of the contest, but not to an extent that should concern the city club.

A dozen points from popular Panthers asset Niels Kristian Iversen (a haul which would have been bigger but for a cruel late retirement in heat three) and 11+1 from young reserve Nicolai Klindt (a man who had been thought likely to join the city side before opting for Monmore Green) ensured Wolves were not completely crushed.

Klindt was responsible for ending Kenneth Bjerre's hopes of another full house when roaring home in heat nine – the second part of a back-to-back heat double.

Those two men might have shone, but the other three visiting riders with strong Panthers connections performed feebly.

Pointless Jesper B. Monberg looked a pale shadow of the man who played such a big part in Panthers' unforgettable 2006 title triumph (he was known as Jensen back then) while David Howe is a rider whose career promised so much when a teenage prodigy of the late 1990s here, but has ultimately delivered so little.

And Morten Risager (a man left angry when axed by Panthers at the start of August) showed exactly why that decision was correct with a hat-trick of last places and only two points.

It was a miserable night for Risager completed by an awkward first bend tumble in heat 11.