Boss Dale Allitt urged King's Lynn fans not to overlook the efforts of Danny Ayres despite his troubles in the 49-44 win at Poole on Wednesday night.

The Stars number seven did not score at Wimborne Road and was always going to be ruled out of Thursday's return against the Pirates (7.30pm) because of his commitments to Championship club Redcar.

Ayres, a recent recruit following his departure from Leicester, will be replaced by job-sharer Simon Lambert, who has recovered from injury in time for the clash.

'Danny had a difficult night but did everything I asked of him in heat 14, which was to make life difficult for Richie Worrall,' said Allitt. 'His score was certainly no reflection on his effort.

'We will be using Simon because of Danny's commitments at Redcar and that is the whole point of the job share.

'It works well because they will both have tracks where they excel and others where they might not. We can mix and match and that gives us vital options.'

King's Lynn moved up to third in the Premiership and earned a seven-point cushion over the play-off cut-off with victory in Dorset.

It would have been eight with any kind of advantage from heat 15 and the Stars led by 11 points with three races to go, but Allitt's focus remains on the future.

'Team managers always want more but you could not look at it that way,' he said. 'People might think we should have got all four points, but not many teams will go there and win.

'Most would not have expected us to win at all. It was a great result and when you look at the scoring, all of the boys chipped in.

'We have to see this as half-time. I am Balways a big believer that every meeting is different and when we have a defeat, we always feel it is more about how you respond to it. I am sure Poole will feel the same.

'By no means will it be easy, Poole are more than capable of coming to us and doing what we did at their place.

'We have probably been better away than we have at home. I am sure it will be a good meeting and with us getting up to third with a hard-fought win, we have to look to extend our gap.

'It is all about the play-offs. That has always been our focus and nothing has changed.'

Poole head to the Adrian Flux Arena with a six-man team after it was announced Nicolai Klindt, who tried to ride through the pain barrier despite knee ligament damage on Wednesday night, had been forced to withdraw. Rider replacement will be utilised.

King's Lynn: Troy Batchelor, Thomas Jorgensen, Kai Huckenbeck, Robert Lambert, Chris Holder, Lewis Rose, Simon Lambert.

Poole: Krzysztof Kasprzak, Jack Holder, R/R for Nicolai Klindt, Richie Worrall, Hans Andersen, Paul Starke, James Shanes.