SWINDON skipper Hans Andersen is eager to put a series of near misses firmly behind him to end the maiden European Championship campaign on the podium in Rzeszow on Sunday.

The Dane has come agonisingly close to making the semi-final in each of the three rounds to date, missing out by two points in Gdansk and just a single place in both Togliatti and Gorican.

With Tomasz Gollob and Emil Sayfutdinov missing the meeting following season ending crashes Andersen is looking to take advantage and move up the standings, and would love nothing more than a top three finish.

“It would be nice to finish with a podium because I’ve done well this year and only missed out in each round by so little,” he said.

“It seems bad in a way not to have made one but it’s different to the GP in that only six riders get in, but it would be nice to finish the season off by climbing on the podium.

“If I can get a big score I can easily move up a few places in the standings because there’s a few riders not there because of injury.

“The way I’ve ridden has been good because I’ve not been off the pace and I’ve only been missing out by one or two points, and it’s all been pretty consistent for me.

“I could have done better and I could have done worse, but it would be good to finish well.

“I think their plan is to start over again and if I don’t get a wild card for next year I will have to go out and do the qualifying round again which I am more than happy to do because it was only two rounds.”

Meanwhile, Poole promoter Matt Ford has insisted the Pirates’ vocal home crowd will play a vital role in their Elite League play-off semi-final second leg clash with the Robins on Monday night.

The Wimborne Road side trail Alun Rossiter’s men by 10 points going into the deciding meeting, and Ford is convinced a packed house could inspire a comeback.

“We have staged some memorable meetings down the years and the Poole supporters will play a key part in proceedings,” he said, “The greater level of encouragement there is for the riders, the more inspired they are. There have been some terrific recoveries in previous years at Wimborne Road, all inspired by a brilliant atmosphere from the terraces.

“If ever we have needed that unique Poole Pirates roar to reverberate round Wimborne Road, it will be on Monday.”