NEIL Middleditch has told frustrated Lewis Bridger to prove his worth to Team GB – or risk being cast into the World Cup wilderness.

Bridger was left out of Middleditch’s team for event two at King’s Lynn tonight and subsequently voiced his opinions on social networking site Twitter, claiming he should have been in the Pirates manager’s one-to-five in place of rival Ben Barker.

And Middleditch, whose GB side faces Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic at the Norfolk Arena, has told Bridger to grab his opportunity and prove him wrong should his services be required during World Cup week.

Middleditch told the Echo: “Lewis is very outspoken but I wouldn’t knock him for being keen to get involved.

“If every British rider was hassling me like Lewis does then you’d think he deserves a chance. He could come into the reckoning should we need someone else.

“I think he has lost his way a bit. He is a tremendous talent and I have always had a lot of time for him, but I think he has lost his way off the track a little bit.

“If he does get a chance, then he has to show me what he can do. I want him to do well because he is young and still has years ahead of him, but it’s whether he can step up now. That’s what he has to do because this could be a big opportunity for him.”

Team GB spearhead Scott Nicholls will ride in Norfolk tonight, but could be missing for Thursday’s race-off, should Middleditch’s men need it, and the final on Saturday – leaving the door ajar for Bridger to step in.

And Middleditch insisted any personal issues between Bridger and Barker would need to be put to one side.

The Pirates boss added: “It’s all petty stuff between Lewis and Ben. When it comes to the World Cup I will sit them down and tell them to put to one side any differences they have. It’s one week.

“My job as the manager is to get the boys together because it is the World Cup. I don’t care what goes on between them for the rest of the year, because for this week they are a team and if any of them don’t want to be a part of it because of another rider they should step aside.”

Pirates star Renat Gafurov, meanwhile, rides for Russia as Andrey Savin’s men look to spring a surprise.

Team GB: 1 Chris Harris, 2 Scott Nicholls, 3 Tai Woffinden, 4 Edward Kennett, 5 Ben Barker.

Russia: 1 Roman Povazhny, 2 Artem Laguta, 3 Emil Sayfutdinov, 4 Renat Gafurov, 5 Grigory Laguta.

Czech Republic: 1 Ales Dryml, 2 Matej Kus, 3 Lukas Dryml, 4 Tomas Topinka, 5 Filip Sitera.

Poland: 1. Tomasz Gollob, 2 Jaroslaw Hampel, 3 Janusz Kolodziej, 4 Piotr Protasiewicz, 5 Krzysztof Kasprzak.