It is another important fixture for the Leicester Lions on Saturday as the visitors to the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium are the Scunthorpe Scorpions, the 2012 Premier League Champions. Fronted by Josh Auty who doubles up with Birmingham in the Elite League and supported by David Howe and new signing Nicolai Klindt the visitors are parading a high scoring trio of racers. Thomas Jorgensen and Ashley Birks add weight to the middle order and at reserve all eyes will be on the return of Lewis Blackbird to Leicester plus the improving young Australian, Ryan Douglas.
The Lions expect to have their captain Kauko Nieminen back from injury but are still without Alex Edberg who has missed the fixtures against Newcastle and Sheffield following an injury he picked up whilst riding for his Swedish club last month. In his place the Ipswich teenager Adam Ellis will deputise for him against Scunthorpe. With a new set of match averages taking effect for the first time on Saturday, Lasse Bjerre will wear the number one race-bib against the Scorpions, a position he started in when he first arrived from Ipswich at the beginning of 2012. This season the teenager has occupied the number three berth in Leicester’s team but a run of high scores recently has seen his match average increase and with it the recognition of being acknowledged as the outright number one at the club.
The fixture marks the debut of James Sargeant, a new signing who replaces Robert Branford in the team for the remainder of the season. Branford, who was signed by Leicester within days of him winning the British Under-21 Championship in April, made fourteen appearances for the Lions and he achieved his best score of nine and two bonus points at Edinburgh but in the last two home meetings the teenager has struggled to find his best form.
“James Sarjeant has ridden for us as a guest on three occasions this season and his five points at Sheffield went a long way towards helping us achieve a win at Owlerton. He has showed up well whilst guesting for other teams in the Premier League and we have been impressed with his attitude. I believe that with regular racing at a higher level James will make the transition. Unfortunately, it means that we have to say goodbye to Robert Branford who has not lacked effort since we signed him in April. He is one of the big names in the National League and has scored consistently well for Coventry but in the Premier League there are no easy rides and at the very least you need to be scoring points at home to increase your confidence level. Hopefully Robert will find another club soon and we wish him well for the future” commented the Lions Co-promoter Alan Jones.
