THE opening meeting of the season at Beaumont Park features the first leg of an Inter-league challenge with Leicester hosting Premier League club Sheffield in 1pm fixture.
The Lions have Sebastian Ulamek and Paul Starke making their debuts whilst Patrick Hougaard and Nicolai Klindt return from spells in 2014, whilst Simon Stead sits out for Sheffield with concussion and is replaced by Josh Grajczonek.
Leicester boss Norrie Allan said: “Sheffield have assembled a very good team and with three former Leicester riders in their side I am expecting the match to be very close here and also when we travel to Sheffield next week for the return fixture.
“With nothing at stake other than pride, Saturday’s meeting will be the perfect opportunity for our riders to get used to the new racing lines before we embark upon our first Elite League fixture against Coventry the following week.”
Sheffield reserve Nathan Greaves, who makes his comeback from a season-ending injury last year, said: “I’ve not raced since June so I’m really excited for my first meeting back.
“I’m glad we’ve got a couple of meetings against Leicester to get up to speed rather than being thrown straight into the trophy and league meetings. Hopefully I can do OK against Leicester and just get back up to speed after my time away.”
Leicester: 1. Patrick Hougaard, 2. Nicolai Klindt, 3. Grzegorz Walasek, 4. Szymon Wozniak, 5. Sebastian Ulamek, 6. Josh Auty and 7. Paul Starke
Sheffield: 1. Josh Grajczonek, 2. Dimitri Berge, 3. Kyle Howarth, 4. Josh Bates, 5. Jason Garrity, 6. Richard Hall and 7. Nathan Greaves
