LEICESTER hand a full Championship debut to Danish star Hans Andersen when they face Scunthorpe at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Saturday (7pm).
Andersen, who raced for the Watling JCB Lions in the top-flight in 2018, has re-joined the club as part of a double team switch and slots straight into the No.1 race-jacket.
The Lions can also confirm they have agreed a deal in principle with Australian racer Zaine Kennedy, who spent his first season at this level with Sheffield in 2019 but missed out on a team place in the Championship this year.
Kennedy is currently awaiting an exemption certificate from the Australian authorities to enable him to travel to the UK, which is expected in the coming days. He will not need to isolate upon arrival, subject to providing negative Covid tests, due to the country’s ‘green’ status.
Whilst they await Kennedy’s arrival, the Lions have handed an opportunity to Jake Knight, who has made a successful return to the sport this season with Eastbourne in the National Development League and scored a 15-point maximum when he raced against the Roger Webster Lion Cubs earlier in the year.
Knight’s presence in the side allows the Lions to remain below the maximum points limit with Andersen included, and also enables them to bring in Kennedy later this month before Dan and Joe Thompson receive new averages.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “Zaine applied for his certificate last week, these things can take time of course, but he is confident it should be with him next week so he will be able to travel.
“Jake is fully aware of our situation, he’s a rider we’ve spoken to recently, and this is a good opportunity for him whilst he’s looking to build himself back up in terms of set-up for this level.”
Lions have already knocked Scunthorpe out of the KO Cup this season, but the Scorpions have since strengthened and are up amongst the Championship pacesetters thanks to a strong home record.
They pulled off the big-name signing of Adam Ellis last month, and although Ellis misses Saturday’s meeting due to his involvement in the European Pairs qualifier in Hungary for GB, former Lions skipper Danny King should prove a more than capable guest at No.1.
Dickson added: “It’s an important meeting for us. We’re facing a much stronger Scunthorpe team than the one we faced a few weeks ago in the Cup, so we need to keep our good home form going with an all-round team performance.”
Supporters are reminded that advance tickets are available from https://leicesterlions.seatedly.com/ and cash payments will also be taken on the night.
LEICESTER: Hans Andersen, Jake Knight, Kyle Howarth, Ryan Douglas, Nick Morris, Dan Thompson, Joe Thompson.
SCUNTHORPE: Danny King, Simon Lambert, Theo Pijper, Tero Aarnio, Thomas Jorgensen, Jordan Palin, Josh MacDonald.
