PIRATES new boy Hans Andersen has hit back at critics who claim the club have dropped some of their rider averages on purpose to fit him into their side.

The Dane believes British speedway supporters from other clubs should lay off Poole Castle Cover chief Matt Ford for bringing him back to Wimborne Road for a second spell.

Speedway internet forums have been filled with scores of comments, mostly along the lines of “same old Poole, always cheating” remarks – claims which Ford and the Dorset club strenuously deny.

Andersen, set to make his Pirates return at home to Eastbourne on June 3, said: “I’ve read some of the stuff on the internet, people saying Poole have cheated.

“I think that is a load of old nonsense, a lot of rubbish.

“It’s just worked out Bjarne (Pedersen) is not having the best of seasons and his average has dropped and I have been able to be fitted in.”

Andersen, on loan at Poole until the end of the season, added: “Of course you can lower your average in one meeting, but Bjarne hasn’t gone down to six-and-a-half because of that.

“It takes more than one meeting to do that. And a top-class rider like Bjarne would never be interested in doing that because he is stopping himself earning a living.”

Andersen, who had also been wanted by Coventry, Ipswich and Belle Vue after his parent club Peterborough decided they couldn’t fit him into their side, continued: “I just want to get back to Britain and ride.

“I’m still really friendly with Matt and asked him if he knew if anyone was interested in a rider because his finger is usually on the pulse with these things.

“Everything came along from that. He said I could come back to Poole if I wanted to and it seemed really suitable.

“I looked at their fixture list and everything, and it seemed really good for me.

“I was very keen to ride on a Wednesday. You can do Sweden Tuesday, Poole Wednesday and fly home on Thursday morning before a GP.

“All of a sudden it came off. All those things just fitted into place. Bjarne’s average was down, and Poole have done nothing wrong.

“Hopefully now we can shut some people up because of the unfair slating Matt has got. The claim that riders are dropping their averages is untrue.

“At the end of the day riders are trying to earn a living.

“They are not going to ride a third of the season poorly so the team can get other people in their places.

“I was surprised when Matt said he could fit me in at Poole. But I immediately said I would speak to him because that was something I wanted.

“I’m really looking forward to riding in the team.

“There are some good lads in this team, Poole’s support is |great and it’s always a lot of fun there.

“That’s what I’m missing, the enjoyment of riding. That’s probably why I’m under- performing.”