MATT Ford vowed to do everything in his power to solve Pirates’ latest problem after revealing he had attempted an audacious swoop for Mikkel Bech Jensen.

The Pirates chief confirmed he had held unsuccessful talks with the Dane – one of world speedway’s top prospects – over filling the void left by Robert Miskowiak. Ford is promising to leave no stone unturned in his search for Miskowiak’s replacement as he bids to help revive Poole’s faltering Elite League play-off bid.

He turned to the 18-year-old World Cup winner, widely known as Mikkel B, after out-of-form Miskowiak had last week stunned Pirates by quitting the Dorset club.

But Ford, who also said 2012 Pirates star Piotr Pawlicki had shown an interest in taking Miskowiak’s vacant place, could not strike a deal with highly-rated Jensen or compatriot Mikkel Michelsen due to fixture clashes.

The Wimborne Road promoter told the Daily Echo: “We have spoken to Mikkel B Jensen but because of his Wednesday commitments, it made it a little awkward because we would have had fixture clashes on four or five occasions. As much as Mikkel was very responsive to us, that unfortunately isn’t going to happen and he is now joining a Premier League club.

“We also spoke to another Dane, Mikkel Michelsen, but there were similar types of problems and his Wednesday commitments were just a little bit too restricting for us, being a Wednesday club.

“There are still other irons in the fire and I have requests out there for a couple more riders, but it is just down to riders now and whether they would consider either taking on England or returning to England.”

Pirates, who have been plagued by injuries throughout the 2013 campaign, have been granted a 28-day facility for Miskowiak, who failed to score a league point in six heat appearances in the skull and crossbones.

Ford reported that Pirates could make a like-for-like change, up to Miskowiak’s 5.64 average, at any point during the 28-day period, which starts from the date of Miskowiak’s first missed meeting.

With Jensen having now joined Premier League Plymouth, Michelsen ruled out and Pawlicki stranded on a 6.5 assessed average, Ford insists he is determined to take his time to ensure he lands the right replacement.

He added: “I have got to say that it has been a thankless task so far but things do change in a month.

“I am quite sure there are riders out there on a lower average – four-point new riders – that we could bring in.

“But I don’t want to just jump at that type of option and I would much prefer to see what becomes available. What we need to do is just hold fire and see what becomes available to us.”