LEICESTER defend their impressive unbeaten record when they travel to ROWE Motor Oil Premiership leaders Ipswich on Thursday.
The Watling JCB Lions have roared into the play-off places with a record of 17 points taken from their last seven matches, including away wins at King’s Lynn and Birmingham and a 45-45 draw from the regular 15 races at Sheffield.
There is even a chance they could secure a top-four finish with victory at Foxhall, although that would be dependent upon Oxford slipping up in their match at home to King’s Lynn.
A more likely scenario is that the Lions can make sure when they face the Spires at home on Monday, and for that to be the case they will require the aggregate point from their trip to Suffolk.
Lions defeated Ipswich 53-37 in the reverse fixture last month, in a result which finally lifted the reputation of the Witches as a bogey side for Leicester.
The league leaders boast a 100 per cent home record of eight wins out of eight, including a huge 60-30 win over the Lions the last time they met at Foxhall.
But the home side’s injury concerns have increased following the horrific crash suffered by Emil Sayfutdinov in last Thursday’s narrow defeat at Sheffield.
Sayfutdinov remarkably avoided any broken bones but still faces an unspecified period on the sidelines, meaning the Witches are without both of their feared top two with Jason Doyle out for the season.
Ipswich therefore operate rider replacement for Doyle at No.1 and bring in their regular home guest Scott Nicholls to cover for Sayfutdinov at No.3.
Lions are unchanged from their win at Birmingham on Monday with Drew Kemp, a former Ipswich rider, continuing as a guest at reserve for Craig Cook.
And manger Stewart Dickson says that as the winning roll continues and as play-off time approaches, his team are fully buying into the ambitions of success this season.
Dickson said: “The riders are getting really involved now, which is what happens at this stage of the season.
“On Monday night I’d never seen as many people wanting to get hold of my programme and check the score, and that’s what you get when it comes to the business end.
“We’re all in it together and the momentum is with us, but we’re still going to have to graft for every single point that we can get. We’re not going to get everything our own way.”
Lions supporters not making the trip to Foxhall are reminded that the meeting is being streamed live on the British Speedway Network, https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk .
IPSWICH: Jason Doyle r/r, Adam Ellis, Scott Nicholls, Dan Thompson, Danny King, Keynan Rew, Jordan Jenkins.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Richard Lawson, Sam Masters, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Drew Kemp, Sam Hagon.
