LEICESTER have seven points to race for on Bank Holiday Monday as they face a big double-header of home and away Premiership clashes with Belle Vue.
The Watling JCB Lions visit the National Speedway Stadium at midday before hosting the Aces at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena in a rapid return at 7.30pm.
Simon Stead’s side are looking for their first away win of the season as they head back to the venue where they notched a shock 48-42 victory last August.
Until seven days ago that stood as the Aces’ last home defeat, but the Manchester club were overturned on their own circuit by King’s Lynn last Monday leaving them just off the pace of Swindon and Wolverhampton at the top of the table.
However, the reigning KO Cup holders will have top heat-leaders Craig Cook and Max Fricke back after they missed the Stars match due to a Grand Prix qualifier.
The Aces also bring in some additional track knowledge for the away fixture in particular as former Lion Erik Riss guests for the injured Steve Worrall in both matches.
Lions are boosted by the return of skipper Danny King after his arm injury, whilst No.1 Kenneth Bjerre faces his former club for the first time after a successful year with the Aces in 2017.
Meanwhile Polish star Krystian Pieszczek does have experience of the National Speedway Stadium circuit as he was the Under-21 reserve for his country in the World Cup Final at the venue two years ago and practised ahead of the meeting.
Stead said: “As a rider I used to really enjoy taking part in two fixtures over one day, and there’s nothing better than a big Bank Holiday crowd.
“If it turns out to be a successful day, things will start to look a lot rosier. We must compete from start to finish over this time-frame to give ourselves a chance of doing that.
“It’s an opportunity to get another two meetings under our belt and we’ll go out each and every time looking to get the win, as we did at home to Wolverhampton.”
Lions also head to Poole on Wednesday to complete a busy spell of three matches in three days, before going into a fortnight’s break for the Speedway of Nations.
BELLE VUE: Craig Cook, Erik Riss, Dan Bewley, Rohan Tungate, Max Fricke, Jye Etheridge, Damian Drozdz.
LEICESTER: Kenneth Bjerre, Kyle Newman, Danny King, Krystian Pieszczek, Hans Andersen, James Sarjeant, Todd Kurtz.
