King's Lynn reserve Filip Sitera insists it will take more than bad luck to sour his first top-flight season with the play-off chasing Stars.

Sitera's engine problems saw him return from last week's Elite League derby meeting at Peterborough pointless before a broken chain wrecked his bid for a paid eight haul at former club Coventry on Friday.

The Czech was leading the penultimate race when he was forced to bail out on the final lap during Lynn's battling 49-44 defeat at the champions.

'No, I'm still really enjoying it at King's Lynn,' he said.

'I had a problem with my engine last week and that was a bit unlucky. We found out what was wrong after the meeting, sorted it out, and things were better at Coventry.

'Then I broke a chain when I was on the last lap leading in heat 14 so that was three points gone in that race.

'That is speedway. You get weeks like that. After Peterborough I wanted to come back strongly and I did, but I probably could have got 10 points at Coventry. I crashed in my third ride and then broke a chain in my last. That is just unlucky, I guess.'

Lynn's play-off ambitions face the ultimate test tomorrow at pre-season title favourites Poole with the Pirates' able to track Elite League best pairs-winning duo Chris Holder and Darcy Ward.

'Poole away is so tough because they have some really good riders so we will have to go very well to get a point,' said Sitera. 'I think we can say they were two good points away from home last week, because both Peterborough and Coventry are strong on their own track. If I'm being a bit greedy perhaps we could have got some more. You look at the table and we are picking up points in most meetings; which is important to stay in that top four and fight for the play-offs.'

Sitera will temporarily suspend club hostilities next week when he lines up for the Czech Republic alongside fellow Star Tomas Topinka in event two of the World Team Cup on home shale. The 23-year-old knows the size of the task against holders Poland, hosts GB and emerging superpowers Russia. Only one country will progress directly to the final with the second- and third-placed sides earning a second chance via a race-off.

'It's a really big meeting,' said Sitera. 'To race against the world champions, who have riders like Tomas Gollob, and also Britain at home – it doesn't get much bigger. For the fans it is great to see all these top riders in one place, but the Czech team isn't a big team, although we feel we have a chance to qualify for the race-off.

'It will be tough for us to win it. It's a really hard meeting for us, but I know King's Lynn. It is a big, fast, wide track which means you can pass there so we'll see some good racing. Tomas has been here something like 16 years so he knows the best lines. You can see even this season when he might not have been as quick, but he can still keep grand prix riders behind him. We'll be trying everything to beat those guys.'