Nicki Pedersen admits he cannot settle for semis in his quest to be world champion.

The Eastbourne Eagles star returns to action at the European GP in Wroclaw, Poland, tomorrow after recovering from surgery.

He will be looking to follow his dramatic win in the opening event of the series in Slovenia almost a fortnight ago.

And he reckons he can pile up more points if he keeps standards high.

Pedersen, world champion in 2003, has prepared more carefully than ever for GP action this year and has added a sports psychologist to his crew.

He said: "The whole team needs to keep a level of focus and to step up in the semis and the final. That worked really well in Slovenia.

"In the last couple of years I've been happy to just get in the semis. Now I need that bit extra.

"I've got to keep making semis and finals. That's what I did when I was world champion in 2003."

Pedersen underwent surgery on his wrists and lower arms last Monday to be fully fit for the rest of a demanding ten-meeting GP season.

He will be under particular pressure to win his home Danish GP for the first time when the action switches to Copenhagen at the end of June.

But he insists events in Wroclaw are just as important to him.

He said: "They are all more or less the same.

"I've got 450 people coming to the lounge at the Danish Grand Prix so I suppose there will be a lot of pressure on me.

"But I'm not affected by that. I focus on each Grand Prix the same."

Eagles fans will hope to see Pedersen come through tomorrow's event in good health, allowing him to make his Elite League comeback at home to Coventry on Monday night.

Jason Crump, who was lucky to finish second in Slovenia, will be many people's favourite to reign in Poland.

The Belle Vue star made a canny move in the winter by transferring his Ekstraliga registration from Torun to Wroclaw to give himself more chance to ride the Grand Prix track.

He is unbeaten in ten races at Wroclaw this season, as well as being in great form in England and Sweden.

Crump suffered ignition trouble in Slovenia but said: "We will rectify things so we don't encounter the same problems again."

World champion Tony Rickardsson will also be fired up after only finishing fourth in Slovenia.

Meanwhile, Lewis Bridger insists he was happy to finish third in the British Under-21 Championship at Kings Lynn.

But he added: "I've still got five years to go back there and win it."

Bridger had three firsts and two seconds in his five qualification races, then won the semi-final in Wednesday night's event at Kings Lynn.

Ben Wilson (Sheffield Tigers) beat David King (Ipswich Witches) in the final but Bridger got past former Eagles guest Steve Boxall in thrilling style to claim third.

The 16-year-old from Bexhill said: "I made a good start in the final but it was slick on the inside and everyone just rode around me.

"But I got past Steve Boxall on the last lap and I was quite happy.

"I wanted to get to the final and take it from there. That's all I was bothered about.

"It was a nervous meeting for me. There was pressure to do well.

"In the Elite League I'm not expected to do anything.

"I know that will change but I'm making the most of it at the moment."

Bridger's performance, in which his victims included Belle Vue's James Wright, have earned him a place in the British qualifying round for the World Under-21 Championships at Sheffield a week on Sunday.

Eagles asset Adrian Miedzinski has already won the equivalent Polish event.