LEICESTER hit the road for the first time this season when they make the short trip to Birmingham on Wednesday (7.30pm) in the KO Cup.
The Watling JCB Lions fully expect to complete the job of progression to the quarter finals as they hold a 64-26 advantage from last month’s first leg, and they are always backed by a large contingent of travelling fans on their visits to Perry Barr.
The meeting will be Birmingham’s first on their home track after a rain-off last week, and there will be much interest in conditions after the circuit was completely re-laid over the winter, with positive reports from their press day.
And although the Second City side have endured a tough start to the season, they track a far stronger line-up than that which visited the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena, as they now include British Champion Adam Ellis who was unavailable for that opener.
The Lions are unchanged with boss Stewart Dickson resisting the temptation to tinker with a winning line-up – and he’s stressed that keeping up the momentum will further increase confidence ahead of a crunch schedule of league matches this month.
Dickson said: “We’ve started the season very well, and we want to go there and win races, and hopefully the match itself.
“I know it will be Birmingham’s first home meeting after they were called off last Wednesday, and fingers crossed we’ll go there and put up a decent performance.
“The guys are riding on the crest of a wave, confidence is high, and we know we’ll take a lot of fans there, so we look forward to putting on a good show both for them and for the Birmingham public.”
Lions supporters can pre-book tickets for the trip to Perry Barr by visiting https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing?eid=26429& and are reminded that both cash and card options are available for entry on the night, with cards providing the quickest way of getting into the stadium.
BIRMINGHAM: Claus Vissing, James Shanes, Josh Auty, Ashley Morris, Adam Ellis, Stefan Nielsen, James Pearson.
LEICESTER: Nick Morris, Connor Mountain, Kyle Howarth, Dan Thompson, Richie Worrall, Anders Rowe, Joe Thompson.
