The Newcastle Diamonds, one of the in-form teams in the Premier League at the moment visit the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium on Saturday.
The North-east club are riding on the crest of a wave having just made it through to the League Cup Final after completing an aggregate win over Sheffield last weekend. Newcastle are the only team left unbeaten at home this season in the Premier League and although they were held to a draw against Ipswich recently, the Diamonds are well placed with matches in hand over the leading group of clubs.
“Apart from Newcastle everyone has lost at least one home fixture and we have to count on not losing another. A win on Saturday is a must because I cannot see any of the top six dropping further points at home and we have to be on our very best form to succeed. When you take a look at their team statistics the one fact that jumps out at you is that five of their riders have increased their race points’ average from the figures they started with at the beginning of the season. That says a lot about the task that awaits us. Promoter George English has put together a compact septet and the synergy within the side is working as they are delivering championship form away from home” said the Lions co-promoter Alan Jones.
Leicester welcome back Lasse Bjerre to the side after injury and are at full strength for the first time since their last home fixture when Somerset ended the Lions unbeaten home record in the Premier League. Jones went on to say: “the longer our home Premier League unbeaten record went on the more our expectations grew but I think we all knew deep down inside that good things always come to an end. That is out of the way now and we have to forget about the result and starting on Saturday push on to seal a win to consolidate our position as play-off candidates.”
On Sunday the Harry Jordan Lions have another big day ahead of them at Peterborough when the team set out to go one step further in the Premier League Fours’ competition. Leicester have twice finished runners-up in the final and this year are drawn in Group B alongside Somerset, Edinburgh and Newcastle. The two highest scoring teams progress to the final where they meet the winners and second placed team of Group A. “We can expect a large turn-out of fans at the East of England Showground to cheer on the team and whilst our Group on paper looks to be the strongest there is every chance that we can achieve our goal of reaching a third final where anything can happen on the day” added Jones.
Leicester have named their riding order of Magnus Karlsson, Lasse Bjerre, Kevin Doolan and Kauko Nieminen with Alex Edberg at reserve.
