Peterborough Panthers still sweating on the fitness of their number one rider

​But Panthers are unlikely to know until later this weekend whether or not number one Nicki Pedersen will be fit to take his place following his opening-night crash in the defeat against Ipswich at the East of England Arena.

The Dane was having treatment on his lower back and also suffered swollen fingers, and whilst he travelled to Poland last week where he was listed to take part in a major individual event, his withdrawal from that meeting was a mere formality.

This weekend, however, marks the start of the Polish Ekstraliga season – the richest league in the sport – and Pedersen is due to line up for his club Grudziadz against Czestochowa on Saturday.

Panthers have declared him in their side for Monday’s meeting with the Lions, although that essentially was a matter of protocol as they had to nominate their team and riding order to their opponents five days before the event.

Should Pedersen be unable to race, there would at least appear to be reasonable guest options available as three other clubs are inactive on Monday, with only Wolverhampton and Belle Vue racing each other elsewhere.But any long-term problem would require a longer-term solution as for next Thursday’s return fixture in the East Midlands, six of the seven Premiership clubs are racing – a scenario which will unfold on several occasions this year.

Meanwhile, manager Rob Lyon insists he took enough encouragement from opening night to believe Panthers will be in the mix for honours, especially when their new recruits are fully up to speed.Lyon said: “The lack of track time was a problem, and I know that’s not just us, but Hans (Andersen) for example hadn’t been on a bike for I think it was 179 days or something stupid like that.

“And yet I thought he rode well for a couple of race wins, and Ben Cook is another rider who needs a bit more time on the track and I’m sure he’ll come good.

“I think we’re going to see many close matches throughout the league this season with the teams that are out there, but obviously from our point of view we’re here to win speedway meetings.”

Monday’s meeting is set to be another stern test as it marks the return of former Panther Chris Harris, a man responsible for many of the racing highlights at the Showground over the last two seasons.

Harris has been named as skipper of Leicester who have shown plenty of ambition on their elevation to the top league, by also recruiting Grand Prix star Max Fricke and last year’s King’s Lynn number one Richard Lawson.

MEMORIAL MEETING

Panthers star Neils-Kristian Iversen finished last in a six-rider final at the Peter Craven Memorial Meeting at Belle Vue after qualifying impressively in second place with 12 points from five rides.

Clubmate Hans Anderson picked up just three points as Ipswich Witches star Jason Doyle won the meeting for a record fourth time.