The Australian's short-term deal ended after the 56-37 victory over rock-bottom Wolverhampton in their final meeting of the regular season on Thursday.

But the city side could yet drop back into the drop-zone and be plunged into a two-legged play-off against the same opposition early next month.

Panthers will be forced into the play-off if Belle Vue win their final meeting at home to Coventry on Monday.

Sullivan (right) might have long-standing commitments on the scheduled dates of the play-offs which will take place in October.

Team manager Trevor Swales said: "Ryan is going away to look into whether or not it is logistically possible for him to take part in the relegation play-off.

"We would obviously want Ryan to be involved if at all possible, but it is hypothetical at the moment until we know for definite whether we are going to be involved in it.

"Ryan is due to come back to me after the weekend with an answer on whether he is available."

Panthers might be able to bring in a guest rider for Sullivan if he is unavailable.

n HENNING Bager hopes he has ridden his way into Panthers plans for next year.

The Danish ace has impressed with a series of solid scores since climbing back into the main body of the city side.

Bager, who is owned by Lakeside, was drafted in during May and would love to return.

He said: "Peterborough is a club I like massively and it is a place where I am always happy to be riding.

"When I took the call from Trevor Swales this season I was delighted to come back and the same will apply if he picks up the phone in the winter.

"Things have been going very well for me lately and I am happy with the amount of points I've been scoring."

Another man hopeful of returning is Danny King. The Huntingdon-based racer has spent the past two years on loan from Ipswich. King admitted: "This is the place where I love to be and I hope that doesn't change next year. The fans, the track, everything is just great here."

n PANTHERS man Lukas Dryml is bidding to haul himself off the bottom of the World Championship standings tonight. Dryml competes in the Italian GP at Lonigo – the penultimate round of the 2008 series.

World Championship standings: Nicki Pedersen 155pts, Jason Crump 127, Greg Hancock 120, Tomasz Gollob 118, Hans Andersen 102, Leigh Adams 98, Andreas Jonsson 79, Rune Holta 63, Scott Nicholls 62, Freddie Lindgren 59, Chris Harris 54, Niels Kristian Iversen 53, Bjarne Pedersen 49, Krzysztof Kasprzak 44, Lukas Dryml 35.