LEICESTER have booked their former captain Kyle Howarth for a guest appearance in their trip to Peterborough on Bank Holiday Monday (7.30pm).
Howarth led the Watling JCB Lions in the last two seasons in the Championship but remained with Sheffield in the top-flight this year as the Lions moved up to join them.
He comes in on Monday because current Lions skipper Chris Harris misses the meeting as he is racing in a Grand Prix qualifier in Germany, and Nick Morris will stand in as skipper at the East of England Arena.
Meanwhile, the Lions are set to welcome back Richard Lawson after he missed Thursday’s trip to Ipswich following his big crash in Heat 15 of the home win against Sheffield last week.
The Panthers have been without a No.1 ever since Nicki Pedersen quit the club having completed less than one racing lap at the start of the season.
On Monday they bring in Michael Palm Toft to guest at No.1, whilst former Lions rider Hans Andersen drops to reserve as Ben Cook moves into the top five.
Elsewhere in their side, another ex-Lion Richie Worrall is back from a short injury absence, and he was a key man when the teams met at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park in April.
Worrall scored 14+1 in that meeting as the Lions edged to a 47-42 victory, which means the aggregate point is also up for grabs on Monday.
Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “Peterborough had their first win last week against King’s Lynn and we can see how their team is improving as the season develops.
“This should be a good fight between the two sides. We need to stick tight to the Panthers, with having a five-point lead from the home leg.
“If we can do that, keep this lead and grab the aggregate point as well, that would be good.”
PETERBOROUGH: Michael Palm Toft, Ben Cook, Benjamin Basso, Richie Worrall, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Hans Andersen, Jordan Jenkins.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Justin Sedgmen, Richard Lawson, Kyle Howarth, Nick Morris, Jake Allen, Dan Thompson