LEICESTER fell to their sixth straight defeat in a 56-34 loss at neighbours Wolverhampton.
It was another tough night at the office for the Watling JCB Lions who were restricted to just one heat advantage throughout the fixture.
Former Wolves duo Ricky Wells and David Howe, who was called up at short notice to stand in for injured reserve Josh Auty, top scored for the Lions with Charles Wright the only other Leicester rider to secure a race win.
Heat-leader duo Hans Andersen and Scott Nicholls managed just five points between them and team boss Simon Stead believes the scoreline would’ve been much closer had things gone differently in the opening few races.
“Hansi broke the tapes in his first one and then Scotty got excluded, probably unfairly, in his first ride,” Stead said.
“So they didn’t have ideal starts at all and they were chasing it after that.
“They’re trying everything and I can’t fault them; Hansi just can’t buy a win at the moment and Scott’s only just got that engine back from service.
“It’s frustrating because you look down the rest of the scorechart and everyone else did okay. You have to take into consideration the fact that both Charles and Stuart had bike troubles each as well and they deserved more.
“Ricky rode really well overall and full credit to David; he came in at short notice and fully deserved his Heat 15 outing based on the rest of his rides.
“Things just went against us tonight and we just had a little bit of bad luck.
“We’re on a disappointing run right now but we’ll keep our chins up and we’re desperate to turn it around pretty soon.”
The Lions travel to Swindon on Wednesday (August 8, 7.30).
WOLVERHAMPTON 56: Jacob Thorssell 12, Rory Schlein 11+2, Sam Masters 11+1, Kyle Howarth 8+2, Jonas B Andersen 8+1, Tom Bacon 3+2 Ashley Morris 3.
LEICESTER 34: David Howe 10, Ricky Wells 9+1, Charles Wright 5, Stuart Robson 4+2, Hans Andersen 3+1, Scott Nicholls 2, Connor Mountain 1.
