Peterborough Panthers manager Trevor Swales has backed Jason Crump to win a third world championship after he impressed on Thursday.

The Belle Vue star scored 16 on his visit to The Showground but Panthers narrowly won 47-45.

Swales told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire: "I think you could have seen the world champion at work here tonight.

"Nobody deserves it more than Jason, he's a smashing lad and good luck to him in the Grand Prix," he added.

Swales was pleased with his team's second home victory of the season but admitted he would have preferred a bigger winning margin.

If I had a bomb I'd probably drop it on Lakeside Panthers boss Trevor Swales

"I was hoping we were going to beat them more convincingly to give everyone a bit more confidence," he said.

"But they all chipped in with a few points which is really good."

Peterborough go to Lakeside Hammers on Friday evening and Swales admits he is not looking forward to the meeting.

"Lakeside's a funny place to go and to be honest it's not one of my favourite places," he said.

"If I had a bomb I'd probably drop it on Lakeside."

Panthers were beaten 58-35 at Lakeside in the Craven Shield in March.

Swales said: "Last time we went down there it was mega-grippy and it threw everything, even Hans [Andersen] was struggling.

"It was a terrible loss and that's the sort of thing we have to avoid."