The Eastbourne Eagles are the visitors to Leicester on Saturday and Team Manager Norrie Allan is looking for his team to bounce back from the home reverse against Coventry last week.
“The match point we picked up at Coventry was scrubbed out the following night in the return fixture at home when we let slip a six point lead. We were all deflated to say the least. I thought the night before was the beginning of a turn in fortune and if someone had said to me that Jason Doyle would go through the card unbeaten at home then I would have expected us to win. We are a much better team than that and nothing short of a win against Eastbourne, and by that I mean three match points in the bag, is needed to keep in touch with the in-form teams above us in the league table.”
With Patrick Hougaard ruled out of the fixture with a broken thumb sustained in a crash at Coventry, the Rapid Solicitors Lions have lined up Nick Morris as a guest on Saturday. The Australian is a renowned Leicester track specialist and he was the top scorer in the season opener in March at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium for the Rest of the World side against Team GB. Eastbourne are also forced into one change as Lewis Blackbird is required by Peterborough, his Premier League club, and he has been replaced by a teammate of Morris’s at Swindon, Steven Worrall.
So far, this season has begun with the Eagles unbeaten at home having won all four matches but on their travels they have yet to open their account from two meetings but sit handily in fourth place in the Elite League table by virtue of their results at home. When the two sides last met earlier this month in Sussex, the Lions led during the early stages of the match and were still in contention with five heats remaining but the Eagles pulled away to win by 52 points to 37.
Teams
Leicester: 1. Jason Doyle, 2. Peter Ljung, 3. Mads Korneliussen, 4. Simon Stead, 5. Nick Morris, 6. Tom Perry and 7. Max Clegg
Eastbourne: 1. Bjarne Pedersen, 2. Timo Lahti, 3. Joonas Kylmakorpi, 4. Cameron Woodward, 5. Mikkel Michelsen, 6. Steven Worrall and 7. Daniel Halsey
