King's Lynn team chief Rob Lyon believes the club's Elite League play-off fate could be decided as much off the shale as on it ahead of tonight's Norfolk Arena derby against Peterborough. (7.45pm)

Third-placed Lynn track youngster Lasse Bjerre at number two for the Panthers' visit with Tomas Topinka dropping to reserve and experienced racer David Howe recently replacing Lee Complin in the Stars' squad.

'We're constantly monitoring the situation,' said Lyon. 'In the Elite it is slightly different to the Premier in that its all about the top four and what team you have coming towards the end of the normal season and hopefully when you qualify for the play-offs. You find a lot of Elite teams are tweaking their line ups to make the most they possibly can out of the points available. We'll continue to monitor it over these next few weeks because it could be crucial to what we do for the rest of the normal season and then if we get in the play-offs what we can do there .

'Both Lasse and Tom have got averages now after four home and four away meetings. Lasse's has gone up to 5.12, which is a terrific boost for the lad in his first season in the Elite. We have taken the opportunity to strengthen that position as well which unfortunately meant letting Lee go and bringing in David to double up. We are looking to his experience on some of the Elite League tracks to help us out in that position.'

Bjerre junior has been passed fit to race despite a horrific shunt on Premier League duty for Ipswich at Leicester earlier this month.

'It was certainly a nasty one,' said Lyon. 'I wasn't actually at the meeting but the initial reports were he had suffered a badly broken leg and femur which would have been a disaster for the lad and the club. Fortunately he came out of it relatively unscathed with some muscle damage. He's had ten days off and he is fit and raring to go. The doctor has given him the okay to ride in Denmark and everyone is well happy with that. I think he's quite looking forward to riding with his brother at number two.'

Bjerre senior, along with Niels-Kristian Iversen and Mads Korneliussen, return to Lynn after World Team Cup action for a Danish side that also featured Peterborough number one Nicki Pedersen.

'That's the quirky business of speedway, I guess,' said Lyon. 'You ride with riders and then against them the following night. That is the modern speedway world. The fact it is a derby I'm sure means there'll be some needle and controversy no doubt but hopefully there'll be some entertaining racing again and we come out on top and get the three points. That is the perfect scenario from our point of view.

'We've studied the fixtures we have left home and away and we have a nice run of matches coming up that we have to make the most of and pick up maximum points. We are still sitting nicely in that top four position. Peterborough's home form is fairly impressive but I think away is the key to whether they make the play-offs or not. They look relatively strong at home but it's what they do on the road.'

Gates open 6.30pm. Parade 7.30pm; first race 7.45pm.

Admission prices: Adults �15, concessions �12, junior (aged 12 to 15 years) �5 with free entry for children aged 11 and under. Tickets can be purchased on the night or are available in advance from klstars.co.uk.

• Stars: 1 Kenneth Bjerre, 2 Lasse Bjerre, 3 Olly Allen, 4 Mads Korneliussen, 5 Niels Iversen, 6 Fillip Sitera, 7 Tomas Topinka.

• Panthers: 1 Nicki Pedersen, 2 Linus Sundstrom R/R, 3 Norbert Kosciuch, 4 Troy Batchelor, 5 Krzysztof Buczkowski, 6 Kozza Smith, 7 Richard Lawson.