LEICESTER go looking for more points in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off race when they visit Midlands rivals Birmingham on Monday.
The Watling JCB Lions came out on top at home when the sides met last week, although the Brummies fought hard to restrict them to a six-point margin of victory.
But it was the win which was all important for Stewart Dickson’s side, who are now three points ahead of fifth-placed Oxford and still with two matches in hand.
That three-point margin would be doubled at Perry Barr if the Lions can win again, as that would also give them the aggregate point.
Birmingham have lost their last five home matches in all competitions but a warning for the Lions is that four of those defeats have been by narrow margins, and the Brummies do not appear to be far away from a side who could finish the season with some good results.
The encouraging news for the visitors is that several of their riders have strong records around the West Midlands venue, and both Max Fricke and Luke Becker have made recent guest appearances there.
With Craig Cook still absent at reserve, Dickson has turned back the clock by calling up Drew Kemp – the rider who Cook replaced earlier in the summer - to make a guest appearance.
Kemp has continued to ride for Dickson in the Championship with Berwick and has enjoyed a string of high scores of late, plus he contributed 6+2 when the Lions took a 14-point win at Birmingham back in April.
Dickson said: “I know people were talking on Thursday about whether six points would be enough for the aggregate point, but without being disrespectful we’re not going there for an aggregate point, we’re going there to win.
“It might sound a bit boastful but that’s the sort of form that we’re in at the moment. Monday is a different night and I’m sure we can give a good account of ourselves.
“Drew is pretty good around Birmingham and it shows the man he is that he has no hard feelings or thought about not doing it because of being taken out of the side, and that’s testament to him.
“He’s been with me at Berwick so we’ve still been on talking terms, he’s been as good as gold there and I’m grateful that he’s doing the meeting.
“They’ve got two strong reserves on paper, and that’s where we need to get into them on Monday night. We can’t afford for their reserves to be outscoring us by too much.”
It’s a busy week on the road for the Lions as they also visit leaders Ipswich on Thursday, before hosting Oxford at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park next Monday (August 19).
BIRMINGHAM: Fredrik Lindgren, Wiktor Lampart, Piotr Pawlicki, Zach Cook, Tom Brennan, Michael Palm Toft, Leon Flint.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Richard Lawson, Sam Masters, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Drew Kemp, Sam Hagon.
