Ipswich Witches skipper Danny King has pleaded with fans to ‘bear with the team’, as the Foxhall Heath-based side get back on track against Peterborough tonight.

The Suffolk team have only ridden three meetings in the first month of the season, losing at home to Scunthorpe before drawing with the Scorpions three days later. However, it was the Premier League defeat at Rye House on Saturday night that has caused the biggest angst among the Foxhall faithful, many questioning if the Witches are going to be strong enough this season. King, pictured, is having none of it.

“I understand fans’ views, but I have belief in this group of riders,” he said. “I say to the fans, bear with the team. It’s early days. Yes, at Rye House, we were poor and after the meeting there was a lot of anger from the riders. That isn’t a bad thing, we knew we had screwed up and we feel passionately about it.”

Some Witches fans have voiced their concerns about the strength of reserves Paco Castagna and Darryl Ritchings, who only scored four points between them at Hoddesdon. But King defended the pair.

“Chris Louis has built a top-heavy side, we all know that,” he added. “Only Nico (Covatti) has been doing his job in the top five and the rest of us need to buck our ideas up. You can’t go blaming the reserves, they must chip in what they can of course, but it’s not all about them. We know we have got to up our game and sooner rather than later.”

The Witches return to Foxhall tonight for the first time since opening night in a League Cup clash against the Panthers.

Peterborough won well at Scunthorpe on Sunday and have a solid 1-7. Ipswich are currently bottom of the group table, but have four matches still to race in the group stages.