King's Lynn's Doolan hungry for more success

King's Lynn's maximum man Kevin Doolan insists the champions are taking nothing for granted on the eve of tonight's latest Premier League test against Stoke at the Norfolk Arena. (7.30pm)

Doolan was unbeaten in 11 races home and away during the club's recent aggregate Premier League KO Cup success over Glasgow that continued the Stars' upward curve. Rob Lyon's men look more than capable of mounting a serious defence of last season's treble but Doolan warns there is plenty of hard work ahead.

'It was really good for myself to get results like that at Glasgow but the main thing is we are doing well and we can see that is the case with the results away from home,' he said. 'We're getting out of the starts really well and the confidence is high. It usually takes a while to gel a new team and if you look back at the start of the season we had a couple of disappointing results.

'We had to go away and work a lot harder and it still might not have turned for us as quickly as it did but we have just tried to do what has worked for us in the past. Every point is just as valuable - whether it's from the number one or number seven. We know what our job is against Stoke so as long as we settle down and keep doing it then we'll be fine. I can't see too many big problems - but we won't take them lightly.'

British U21 champion Joe Haines is fit to ride after injuring his knee at Glasgow. The youngster needed a precautionary hospital check up after a heavy tumble at Ashfield forced him to retire early.

Haines had only just returned after being sidelined with a broken collarbone alongside skipper Tomas Topinka who has missed most of Lynn's early season campaign after breaking his leg on Premier Trophy duty at Rye House.

'It's not 100% yet but it's good enough for me to get back on a bike and to score some points and help the team to achieve trophies,' he said. 'It has been a little bit frustrating for me and things haven't gone well with injuries as I was out towards the end of last season, but I hope that is all behind me now.

'It was a bit of a strange one for me and Joe to be out and watching the boys go up north and win. I'm not sure if they are glad or not we are back in the team because they did really well without us but, joking aside, it's always better to have a seven man team.'

Lynn reserve pair Casper Wortmann and Darren Mallett chipped in with a paid 19 haul against the Tigers - and Topinka knows that bottom end strength is vital to the club's hunt for fresh silverware.

'Everybody is riding really well at the moment,' said Topinka. 'Darren has stepped up really, really well and Casper is getting back to what we know he is capable of. He is scoring big points and its great to see everyone enjoying themselves and everybody wants to build on the latest results.'

Admission Prices: Adults �13, concessions �10, juniors (aged 12 to 15) �5 and free entry for children aged 11 and under.

Stars: 1 Tomas Topinka, 2 Joe Haines, 3 Kozza Smith, 4 Linus Eklof, 5 Kevin Doolan, 6 Darren Mallett, 7 Casper Wortmann.

Potters: 1 Cory Gathercole, 2 r/r, 3 Ricky Wells, 4 Adam Roynon, 5 Hynek Stichauer, 6 Lee Smart, 7 Simon Lambert.

Read Kozza Smith's exclusive column only on edp24.co.uk/sport