King's Lynn co-promoter Jonathan Chapman insists James Brundle's pending exit will not derail the holders' KO Cup semi final, second leg charge tonight at the Isle of Wight.

By PADDY DAVITT

King's Lynn co-promoter Jonathan Chapman insists James Brundle's pending exit will not derail the holders' KO Cup semi final, second leg charge tonight at the Isle of Wight. (7.30pm)

Chapman revealed Brundle is set for his final Stars' outing at Smallbrook after paying the price for Lynn's recent patchy form. The club have a contingency plan in place to track a guest reserve if Brundle pulls out of the trip as Lynn protect a slender five point lead on the island.

Fans' favourite Adam Allott will return for tomorrow's scheduled home league meeting against Workington after being confirmed as Brundle's replacement for the rest of this season.

“This is not a snap decision,” said Chapman. “It had been building up for the last month. We've not been happy with James' attitude. There's no denying he has done well this season but to benefit the whole team we need to make this change. It shows everybody if the boys are not doing their jobs we will make changes. We expect him to ride at the Isle of Wight, but we have a facility available to us. Whether he turns up or not is up to him.

“I think this can actually have a positive effect. We had a great result on the island in the league so the confidence should be there. It will be tough, but if we can get through it carries us into the play offs. At the start of the season the aim was to retain the league. We would've taken anything else on top although when you get so far it would be heart breaking to go out of the cup.”

Chapman confirmed Lynn's BSPA appeal over the Islanders' use of club asset Simon Lambert in the Norfolk Arena first leg had been rejected.

Lynn's hardline co-promoter has also challenged his under performing second string to up their game. Chris Mills will get his chance to impress in the third heat leader spot over the run in.

“We've been far from happy with the team's performances in recent weeks,” said Chapman. “At the start of the season we said on paper we had three second strings in Paul Lee, Chris Mills and Trevor Harding. We hoped one of them would step up to the plate during the season and become a third heat leader. Now it's time for Chris to take the number five race jacket after Paul and Trevor have already had their chance. Paul will move to two and Trevor back to four. Hopefully this will be enough to get the team going again, but if it's not then we won't be afraid to make more changes, we are determined to keep hold of our trophies at all costs.”

Allott's return caps a remarkable comeback from a serious broken back injury. The blond racer was advised to quit on doctor's advice after crashing on duty for Stoke at Scunthorpe.

“The saddest day in my life was when the doctors told me that I would never be able to ride again,” he said. “I never realised how much I wanted it until that day. For the last 12 months all I have focused on is getting fit enough to prove the doctors wrong, it is in my blood. I now feel that people will see a new Adam Allott who is not only 100% committed but 200% determined to win.”

Islander (from): 1 Chris Holder, 2 Cory Gathercole, 3 Jason Bunyan, 4 Krzysztof Stojanowski, 5 Glen Phillips, 6 Andrew Bargh, 7 Chris Johnson.

Stars (from): 1 Tomas Topinka, 2 Chris Mills, 3 Daniel Nermark, 4 Paul Lee, 5 Trevor Harding, 6 James Brundle, 7 Benji Compton.