DANNY Ford has urged Max Perry to prove Poole Pirates “made a mistake” in letting him go, as he returns as a guest against Edinburgh Monarchs tonight (7.30pm).

After a slow start to the season, teenager Perry was replaced at reserve by Vinnie Foord, after just nine meetings for the club, where he scored 9+4 from 30 races.

But exactly a month on, Perry will be back in the skull and crossbones, drafted in to cover for Foord, who is out nursing a wrist injury.

Discussing Perry’s swift return, promoter Ford told the Daily Echo: “I didn’t want him back under these circumstances, I’m sure not anyone did, to be honest.

“We’ve said from day one the door wasn’t shut on Max at Poole.

“He certainly went out and rode probably the best he had at Poole in that National League Riders’ Championship (last week), which was really encouraging to see.

“Obviously it’s unfortunate circumstances, but the door is open for Max and I’d like to see him go and establish himself as that number seven that we know he can be.

“Now it’s an opportunity for Max to go and prove himself that we made a mistake.

“There’s a lot on him. Hopefully he’ll thrive under that.

“It’s not a nice position to be in. We didn’t really want to have to make any changes to the team, but things just weren’t working out for Max at the time.

“Maybe a couple of weeks away, a bit of time to think about things. He’s been riding a bit more in the National League and getting rides elsewhere on the continent.

“A bit more bike time I think hopefully has done himself the world of good confidence wise, so hopefully we’ll see the best out of Max.”

Vinnie Foord suffered a wrist injury last week (Image: Richard Crease)

Foord crashed out at Wimborne Road last week, as he looked to push for a spot on the podium at the National League event.

Providing an injury update on the 17-year-old, Ford said: “I was gutted, to be honest.

“Vinnie won his first three heats, picked up a third and he’s a real trier.

“He didn’t make the gate in his final ride and you could see how hard he was riding and he had a nasty crash.

“Initially it didn’t seem like anything was too bad.

“He went and saw the doctors of the track and they ice packed it.

“Then he went to A&E after the meeting and x-rays showed it is fractured, unfortunately.

“He’s got an appointment (today) to assess and see if he needs surgery.

“Obviously if he needs surgery, that’s a prolonged period on the sidelines, so we’re hoping for the best.”

Poole have however been boosted by the return of Tobias Thomsen, who suffered an ankle injury after crashing out in Denmark last month.

Asked how close he expects Thomsen will be to his best this week, Ford said: “Speedway riders are never fully fit. I don’t think you’re a speedway rider if you are ever at absolute 100 per cent.

“He was hoping to get out on track on Saturday, but he had a baby, which was very inconsiderate!

“He said walking is not overly great. He can walk fine, but he won’t be running any marathons any time soon.

“But when he’s on a bike, he feels he’ll be absolutely fine.

“Kind of similar to the situation we had with Richard Lawson a few years ago. You’d see him limping around the pits, but when he got out on track, you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong with him.

“Toby is a really tough guy, very determined, he’s a really hard rider, so I can’t imagine we’ll see much complaining from him.”

Edinburgh are due to be at full strength, providing their septet come through tonight’s meeting at Plymouth unscathed.

For Poole, captain Ben Cook has swapped positions with Tom Brennan and will now ride at three.

Pirates: Lawson, Thomsen, B Cook (c), Z Cook, Brennan, Hagon, Perry (guest).

Edinburgh: Pickering, Thomson, Fredriksen, Castagna (c), Sedgmen, James, Coles.