The city side flopped on home shale for the third time this season when being trimmed up by table-topping Swindon on Monday.

Elite League defeats against Poole and the Robins are sure to prove costly while the drubbing dished out by Lakeside last Thursday effectively ended their KO Cup involvement.

Panthers are perched just one point clear of the dreaded bottom two (the teams occupying those places at the end of the season will enter into relegation play-offs and face a possible demotion into the Premier League) but they still have their sights firmly fixed on a rapid rise into the play-offs to which they have been accustomed – those that decide the destination of the Elite League title.

However, their top four hopes hinge on a quick improvement at home coupled with collecting some three-point away successes.

And Panthers have two opportunities to achieve the latter feat in the next few days with trips to Foxhall tonight to face Ipswich (7.30pm) and a northern test at Belle Vue on Monday.

King, who is owned by Ipswich, has high hopes that the first of those required triumphs will come against his parent club – that's despite Panthers already being bashed 61-31 and 60-31 on two previous visits to Suffolk this season.

He said: "From my own perspective the last couple of meetings at Ipswich have hardly been great, but it is my old home track and I should be able to score some decent points.

"I know we have been beaten heavily there twice earlier in the season, but we are a different side now and have improved a lot on the road in our last few meetings.

"We need to reel back the points we have lost at home this season and a couple of away victories would do the trick and get us back on target for the play-offs.

"Ipswich is the sort of track where Henning Bager normally goes well, gating is important there which should suit Morten Risager and Claus Vissing has shown this season that he can pick up a win or two at any track.

"I am more than capable myself and it is nice having Kenneth Bjerre back after being without him for a few weeks. We all have to give Hans Andersen some solid support and if that happens we have a chance of winning anywhere.

"I certainly believe both the Ipswich and Belle Vue meetings are winnable."

The Huntingdon-based racer has generally performed well at Alwalton and gradually improved on the road during his first season operating as a heat leader.

It is a high-pressure role for a 21 year-old who had only ridden as a reserve and second string in the top-flight ahead of the current campaign, and he is content with the way things are going on a personal level.

"I try not to feel the pressure but it did probably get to me a bit in the weeks when Kenneth was missing," King admitted. "It is hard moving up to a heat leader role and there was extra pressure on me to score while he was injured.

"I just ride as hard as I can in every meeting and hope to pick up the points for the team. Hopefully now Kenneth is back I can relax a bit more and concentrate on making every ride a good one."

Ipswich: 1 Piotr Swiderski (7.23), 2 Tobi Kroner (6.38), 3 Jarek Hampel (7.73), 4 Chris Louis R/R (7.10), 5 Robert Miskowiak (5.63), 6 Steve Johnston (5.60), 7 Chris Schramm (3.00).

Team Manager: Pete Simmons.

Panthers: 1 Hans Andersen (9.38), 2 Henning Bager (4.07), 3 Kenneth Bjerre (7.45), 4 Claus Vissing (5.00), 5 Danny King (6.00), 6 Morten Risager (3.50), 7 Rusty Harrison (3.00).
Team Manager: Trevor Swales.