LEICESTER make the trip to Poole in the Premiership on Wednesday – targeting a major improvement in their fortunes on the road.
The Watling JCB Lions have only completed two away league matches so far, and gained a point when they visited Somerset in April.
But they have recently suffered heavy defeats at both King’s Lynn in the KO Cup and then Belle Vue on Bank Holiday Monday, where they went down 28-62.
Lions did respond to win the home return against the Aces, but know they need to show better when they visit Wimborne Road.
The Pirates, who were pre-season favourites, surprisingly find themselves bottom of the table and have been susceptible at home having lost to Swindon, drawn with Wolverhampton and recorded two modest wins on their own circuit.
The Dorset club did, though, show signs of an improvement at Wolves on Monday night only to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with a double disqualification in Heat 15.
Leicester are without No.1 Kenneth Bjerre who is on Danish League duty, but they bring in Wimborne Road specialist Chris Harris to guest.
Harris won four of his five rides for Rye House when they visited Poole earlier this month, only missing out on a maximum when he fell in Heat 13.
And the Lions also include two former long-serving Pirates riders, with Hans Andersen having had three separate spells with the club and Kyle Newman part of their side until midway through last season.
Leicester boss Simon Stead said: “We know our away form has got to improve, and it’s a big meeting for us down at Poole.
“We’ll be going into that one off the back of a good win at home on Monday night, and we’ll see what we can do there.
“Obviously we’re always striving for better performances, we know we need to improve and we’ve got the chance to do that.
“It’s a place that Hans knows very well and he should be able to lead by example, but we know it’s going to be a tough one.”
The meeting takes the Lions into a two-week break as the Premiership shuts down for the Speedway of Nations, with the next meeting at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena being the visit of champions Swindon on June 13.
POOLE: Brady Kurtz, Linus Sundstrom, Josh Grajczonek, Paul Starke, Richie Worrall, Mateusz Szczepaniak, Kacper Woryna.
LEICESTER: Chris Harris, Kyle Newman, Danny King, Krystian Pieszczek, Hans Andersen, James Sarjeant, Todd Kurtz.
