Peterborough Panthers seek a new rider in time for the Premiership play-offs

The hugely popular Dane, whose average rocketed in the first half of the season, is out for the remainder of the campaign with the serious back injuries he suffered in a smash at Edinburgh last month.

Panthers have mainly covered for his absence with the rider replacement facility and maintained their play-off charge with spectacular wins at Belle Vue and King’s Lynn – before Danny King guested in Monday’s thrilling victory over Wolverhampton, which secured a top-flight play-off finish for the first time since 2010.

Although King’s Ipswich side are out of the play-off race, he will not be an option for Panthers in September as his average is set to rise.

But Lyon says the forward planning started some time ago as he is understandably reluctant to go into a play-off tie as a six-man side, with the risk attached that another rider is hurt during those meetings.

And with some clubs’ foreign seasons now winding down, additional options could become available.

Lyon said: “We’ve discussed it many times and we’re already planning for what we can do in terms of Ulrich’s situation. It’s a topic of conversation every day at the moment.

“Rider replacement has served us well, and the boys have responded magnificently, but it’s not what we want to go into the play-offs with, and we need to do something about it.

“We’ve been looking for the last couple of weeks or so and we will bring someone in if we can. But that person has to be the right rider, the right personality, the right experience, and if that doesn’t happen then we will run with guests as we go into the play-offs. We’ll see how it goes. We’re working really hard to get someone in.”

Panthers are not in Premiership action again until September 2 when they travel to Ipswich.