STEVE Worrall says confidence has been the key to his resurgence in form for Pirates.

Poole’s captain had a slow start to the season by his own lofty standards in recent years, notable by losing the number one spot in the team at the start of July when Richard Lawson overtook him in the averages.

On the flip side, Worrall had been performing well with his Premiership side Wolverhampton.

Speaking last month ahead of his testimonial meeting at Wimborne Road, Worrall said: “I expect a lot more of myself. I’ve ridden a lot better than I am now for the last two years.

“I just can’t seem to catch a break here. I’m struggling to get comfortable and feel confident around here.

“We’ll press reset, try and get some confidence back. Speedway is a massive confidence thing.”

In recent weeks, Worrall has looked back to his best, racking up a total of 27+1 from the past two meetings, including eight race wins along the way.

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The 31-year-old was also last week named in the provisional eight-man Great Britain squad for the upcoming World Cup, which will be whittled down to five later this month.

Discussing his improved form, Worrall told the Daily Echo: “I feel like I’m in a good place with my bikes, I’m happy with everything.

“It snowballs, when you get confident, you kind of figure things out in a way. Even though we’ve been doing it so long we should be able to!

“But it’s just confidence basically. Winning races brings confidence and luckily for me I’m winning a few at the minute, so long may that continue.

“It’s literally just down to confidence. Once you win a few races you start believing in yourself again that you can do it. It snowballs and hopefully it carries on.”

Pirates, who currently side third in the SGB Championship table, nine points off leaders Oxford Cheetahs, head to Birmingham Brummies on Wednesday night (7.30pm).

Neil Middleditch’s men will be looking to continue putting the points on the board after coming from behind to beat Berwick Bandits 54-36 last time out.

“They ran us close early on,” said Worrall.

“We were having to work hard for it early doors, but I think the track was a little bit wet, which evened the racing up.

“Once we found our line, found our rhythm, we did what we usually do and were able to chip away.

“It’s a nice points lead really to take there and try and get the aggregate bonus point.

“It will be nice to seal that one off when we visit Berwick, but it’s another meeting in the bag.”

Birmingham welcome former Pirates skipper Danny King as a guest for the meeting, with Nick Morris serving a suspension.

Pirates: Lawson, Rowe, B Cook, Z Cook, Worrall, Newman, Roynon.

Birmingham: King, Nielsen, Batchelor, Starke, Sedgmen, Hagon, Bowtell.