King's Lynn co-promoter Buster Chapman held clear-the-air talks with his disgruntled riders after Lynn's tense midweek Premier League derby win over Mildenhall at a soggy Norfolk Arena.

King's Lynn co-promoter Buster Chapman held clear-the-air talks with his disgruntled riders after Lynn's tense midweek Premier League derby win over Mildenhall at a soggy Norfolk Arena.

Skipper Tomas Topinka led his men to a last heat 48-45 victory in a contest hit by lengthy delays to allow Chapman and his team to grade the track following heavy late afternoon showers.

An over-worked Chapman vented his frustration in a post-meeting interview over the club's PA system, but the Stars' chief revealed yesterday the matter is now closed.

“Thankfully we have all sat down and sorted out our problems,” he said. “We are now clear with how to deal with the situation next time. We got a good meeting on and, even though some of the home riders weren't happy at the start, by the end of the meeting they were all glad they got on with it. There was some bad feeling on my part because you have the worry of keeping fans happy who would have been waiting nearly an hour to see some racing. You want your riders to have enough trust in you when you say you've done everything you can and you need them to just give it a go.”

Stars' team boss Rob Lyon saluted Lynn's battling spirit again after a repeat of the nerve jangling finale against Rye House last time out.

“People can talk about crisis and slippery slope - there's no crisis here,” he said. “The weather has played a big part in out last two results at home. You just accept these things as a part and parcel of running a team, be it speedway, football, whatever. If everything ran smoothly all the time anyone could do it. You would have to be naïve to think during the course of season from March to October you will not face issues and problems. The key is to deal with them and move on.

“It was tough for riders and promoters against Mildenhall. Buster put in a hell of a lot of effort. The third and fourth turns were difficult early on, but we managed to pull out the win. That was the most important thing. The margin of victory doesn't worry me because we are capable of going to West Row and winning.

“We've done a lot of good work away early in the season. If we now win our home matches then we'll pick up more than enough bonus points to stay in the top four.”

Topinka and Swedish racer Daniel Nermark are back in action tonight in the Premier League Best Pairs at Somerset's Oak Tree Arena. The Lynn duo have been drawn in pool B with the top two clubs progressing to a sudden death semi final and final.

Group B: Birmingham (Emiliano Sanchez and Ulrich Ostergaard), Newcastle (Christian Henry and Josef Franc), Redcar (Gary Havelock and James Grieves), Workington (James Wright and Kauko Nieminen), King's Lynn (Tomas Topinka and Daniel Nermark).