KING KENNETH'S COMEBACK

Tuesday 29th November 2011, 13:41

Peterborough favourite Kenneth Bjerre returns to the East of England Showground for 2012 after Panthers announced their entire one-to-seven.

The Danish international is back after spending this year on loan at King’s Lynn.

But there are no places for Panthers assets Hans Andersen and Troy Batchelor, with the latter claiming on Twitter that he only found out his services were not required "on the internet."

Bjerre will be backed up by Swedish young gun Linus Sundstrom and former Team Great Britain international Oliver Allen, who also raced for the Stars this term.

But the real ace in the Panthers pack appears to be Danish hotshot Michael Jepsen Jensen, who starts the campaign at reserve on a 5.00 assessed average.

Bjerre’s younger brother Lasse takes his place in the team as a doubling-up rider and shares the position with fellow countryman Rene Bach.

"Keeping Michael at reserve was of paramount importance. We’re all of the opinion that he’s going to be the trump card there for us."

- Trevor Swales

Panthers asset Jesper B Monberg completes the top five and British three-pointers Richard Lawson and Kyle Newman share a doubling-up berth at reserve.

Former Denmark and Swindon team manager Jan Staechmann makes a quick return to the Elite League following his departure from Blunsdon and will serve as joint team boss with Trevor Swales.

Swales admits the prospect of having Jepsen Jensen in the bottom two made building a team with plenty of strength in depth their most attractive option.

He told the club’s official website: “We all know what happened last season. We just weren’t good enough away from home, and that’s why we missed out on the play-offs.

“This year we’ve built a team we think and hope is going to challenge for some away wins, and we certainly want consistency home and away.

“We’ve built so many possible teams over the past two months or so, and keeping Michael at reserve was of paramount importance. We’re all of the opinion that he’s going to be the trump card there for us.

“We did look very long and hard at a number of choices, and one of the big reasons we’ve gone this way is purely that it leaves Michael at reserve.”

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