LEICESTER race their first meeting in the new Championship Jubilee League when they head to Redcar on Friday (7.30pm).
The opening stage of the competition is run on a mini-league basis with the Watling JCB Lions in a group with the Bears and Scunthorpe, after Newcastle withdrew last month.
Recent signing Max Clegg makes his debut at the Ecco Arena before his first appearance at home comes the following evening against Edinburgh.
But the Lions will be without Dan Thompson, who was signed out of last week’s Lion Cubs fixture with concussion and is therefore serving a mandatory 12-day period out of action.
Rider replacement is the only option to cover, with the extra outings taken by Connor Mountain, Clegg and Joe Thompson.
Lions took a league point from Redcar earlier in the season even though skipper Kyle Howarth missed that match due to illness. The Bears have made a recent team change with Kyle Bickley replacing Adam Roynon at reserve.
Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “It’s a shame to be without Dan, and that will certainly make things tougher at Redcar, but we’ll see how we go there.
“I’m confident that our heat-leaders can match up with the Redcar big three, and then it’s a case of what happens lower down.
“Obviously we want to win, but if we could get a point in the Jubilee League on Friday and then beat Edinburgh at home on Saturday, that would be a decent weekend.”
REDCAR: Charles Wright, Jason Edwards, Erik Riss, Kasper Andersen, Lewis Kerr, Kyle Bickley, Jordan Jenkins.
LEICESTER: Nick Morris, Connor Mountain, Richie Worrall, Dan Thompson R/R, Kyle Howarth, Max Clegg, Joe Thompson.
*LIONS fans not making the trip to the Ecco Arena can watch the meeting live-stream with a pass from: https://www.redcar-speedway.tv/
