Another crunch Monday meeting for Peterborough Panthers

Peterborough Panthers go into another crunch meeting at the East of England Arena on Monday as they bid to keep their play-off hopes alive.
Action from Panthers v Wolves in June. Photo: David Lowndes.Action from Panthers v Wolves in June. Photo: David Lowndes.
Action from Panthers v Wolves in June. Photo: David Lowndes.

The Crendon Panthers face Wolverhampton in their last home fixture for a month, and it is an opportunity to put some pressure on a side who are direct rivals for a top-four place.Like Panthers, Wolves have suffered two home defeats in 2022 as they have found Ipswich very much a bogey side with the Witches twice having won at Monmore Green this year.But the current eight-point gap between the sides in the league table is largely explained by what happened the last time they met at Alwalton in early June as Wolves raced to a 50-40 victory to take all four points – an overall seven-point swing in the standings.That was arguably Panthers’ most disappointing showing of the season as they suffered a disaster in the early stages, going 22-8 down after five races, and were unable to fully recover – with the exception of Chris Harris, who scored a brilliant 18-point maximum.Harris lines up at No.1 again but the Panthers will be without the services of Michael Palm Toft, who is still struggling with shoulder trouble. In the absence of suitable guest options, Panthers will operate rider replacement, which does allow all members of the side an additional outing.Jordan Palin remains sidelined after his recent crash in practice at Belle Vue, so Jordan Jenkins continues at reserve alongside the flying Benjamin Basso.Wolves are at full strength led by impressive Australian Sam Masters, and several of their side showed a liking for the Showground last month, with Ryan Douglas having a proven record of success and Rising Star reserve Leon Flint is also a potential key figure.Panthers boss Rob Lyon said: “It’s a big one again for us, they keep coming, and the boys have got momentum now.“It would have been nicer to have a fully fit team, but hopefully we will still be able to pull off a win.”

PaANTHERS: Chris Harris, Ulrich Ostergaard, Michael Palm Toft r/r, Scott Nicholls, Hans Andersen, Benjamin Basso, Jordan Jenkins.WOLVERHAMPTON: Sam Masters, Steve Worrall, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Nick Morris, Drew Kemp, Leon Flint.