WIMBORNE Road supremo Matt Ford believes there are two main reasons whey Pirates will definitely finish top of the Elite League this season.

One is because of all the pre-season planning put into team building and the other is the quick change of personnel in the side made in mid-campaign.

Ford, whose side have already qualified for the title play-off final by virtue of being top dogs, said: "A lot of work was put in out of season to try and make sure we had a team as competitive as possible.

"We pick riders we believe will work together and improve and that, generally, has happened again this year.

"Many people will point to the fact that Jason Lyons didn't improve at Poole and we are still very sad about that.

"Even so, Jason left on good terms with Poole and we still have good regard for each other.

"But we moved reasonably quickly when we realised his form was causing concern and brought in Matej Ferjan in particular.

"We always knew he would be tremendous at home and suspect on our travels which, of course, he has proved to be."

Ford, who also replaced Davey Watt with Krzysztof Kasprzak in mid-season, added: "We need the likes of Matej, Daniel Davidsson and Krzysztof to up their game for the final, as I have no doubt that the other four riders in our team will do so automatically.

"Neil Middleditch has been outstanding as team manager again this season.

"People would normally say it is the riders who have put us in the position we are in but I have always believed that Neil is the most important card in our pack because he's so good at his job."

Pirates are likely to meet Wolves in a two-legged play-off final on October 4 and 11, home and away, although Eastbourne, Ipswich, Oxford, Swindon, Arena-Essex and Belle Vue are still fighting for the right to meet Poole.

Ford said: "Whoever we meet, we promise to do our best to bring the league trophy back to Wimborne Road.

"We would love to have a crowd turn out like we did last year when we beat Coventry and Tony Rickardsson and Leigh Adams led us to the title.

"They are not in the team now, but it has been another good year for the Pirates.

"Poole getting to the final is a great achievement for everyone in the town, who have something successful to support and also for Poole Tourism, our local councillors and main team sponsors RIAS.

"We are determined to keep Poole on top of the competition in 2004."

Pirates poster on sale tonight at the stadium with the Echo (price 50 pence)