LEICESTER head into one of their biggest weekends of the season with home and away clashes against great rivals Glasgow.
The Watling JCB Lions travel to Ashfield, scene of their memorable Grand Final triumph of 2019, on Friday before the return fixture takes place at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Saturday.
Both sides are amongst the title contenders once again with Glasgow having led the way for most of the campaign, although they are seeking to bounce back from a shock defeat at Newcastle last Sunday.
Lions are currently sixth in the table but are only four points behind the Tigers, which also indicates just how competitive the play-offs could be in late September.
But boss Stewart Dickson, who comes up against his former club, is stressing that his side still have work to do to ensure they will be involved in the title shootout, which this year will feature the top two sides qualifying directly for the semi-finals, with third to sixth competing in the quarter-finals.
Dickson knows the Lions’ away form in particular needs to improve, and the trip to Ashfield would very much be a good starting point for that.
He said: “Everyone knows the history between me and Glasgow, but to an extent I think we’ve now done that and moved on from it.
“As a team we certainly want to get something from the meeting, and we do need to get some more points on the board away from home to cement our place in the play-offs.
“We’ve been a little inconsistent for most of the season, but if we can get all seven firing, we are capable of winning up there. We have a team that should be going anywhere and giving any home team a run for their money.
“We’ve been good at home apart from one meeting, but now that we’re coming to the business end of the season we need to step up a couple of gears away from home if we’re going to retain the title.”
Dickson tracks the same riding order which was in place at Birmingham last week, with Nick Morris taking the No.5 berth, whilst Ryan Douglas will race in that position in the home fixture.
Glasgow are without the injured Ulrich Ostergaard, who is out for the rest of the season with a back injury, and they bring in British Under-21 Champion Tom Brennan to guest in both meetings.
Brennan performed well in a GP Qualifier at Ashfield earlier in the season and top-scored for his regular club Eastbourne at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena last Saturday.
GLASGOW: Craig Cook, Broc Nicol, Tom Brennan, Sam Jensen, Ricky Wells, Justin Sedgmen, Connor Bailey.
LEICESTER: Hans Andersen, Dan Thompson, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Nick Morris, Joe Thompson, Zaine Kennedy.
