LEICESTER kick off another busy weekend with a top-of-the-table trip to Glasgow on Friday (7.30pm).
The Watling JCB Lions remain clear at the summit of the Championship table, and although the position will be re-calculated in the coming days due to the sad withdrawal of Newcastle, they will still have a healthy advantage.
Their situation was assisted on Wednesday night when Glasgow were beaten 46-44 at Oxford due to a last-heat 5-1 from the Cheetahs, whilst Poole were held to a 45-45 draw at home to Plymouth.
So the Lions will look for more points this weekend as they head to Ashfield before returning home to face Midlands rivals Birmingham at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Saturday.
Meetings between Glasgow and Leicester always carry an additional edge due to Lions boss Stewart Dickson’s lengthy past association with the Scottish side, and it’s also a repeat of the 2019 Grand Final which saw Leicester take the league title in a dramatic contest.
This season, the sides met at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena in April with the Lions coming away with a 52-38 victory.
With a gap still to fill in the side following the departure of Anders Rowe earlier this month, Lion Cubs rider Connor Coles steps in at reserve, whilst Jason Edwards has been booked to stand in against Birmingham.
Glasgow track a full-strength side led by former Grand Prix man Craig Cook, and they have proved particularly strong at reserve with ex-Lion Cubs captain Danyon Hume making a real impression of late – something Dickson saw first-hand when he attended the Tigers’ win over Oxford last week whilst working for British Speedway Network.
Dickson said: “It’s going to be a tough meeting, and having watched them last Friday their reserves looked super-strong, plus I don’t expect Craig Cook to score four points again!
“But as ever we will travel looking to get something from the meeting, at least a point if we can, and if we do that then we’ll have done well.
“I do feel Saturday is more important for us, we need to keep the back door closed at home if we’re going to maintain our lead at the top, and it’s good to see the forecast is now good for Saturday.”
GLASGOW: Craig Cook, Connor Bailey, Ulrich Ostergaard, Benjamin Basso, Tom Brennan, Danyon Hume, Broc Nicol.
LEICESTER: Nick Morris, Connor Mountain, Richie Worrall, Joe Thompson, Kyle Howarth, Connor Coles, Dan Thompson.
