LEICESTER go for league championship glory when they host Belle Vue in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park on Thursday (7.30pm).
The Watling JCB Lions are underdogs heading into the second leg as they face an 18-point deficit from last week’s opener in Manchester, but they have vowed to approach the task with a positive mindset.
And results this season against the Aces do offer encouragement as Leicester have beaten Belle Vue 53-37 and 55-35 on the two previous occasions when the sides have met in the East Midlands.
In addition, as recently as 2023 Sheffield overturned an identical deficit of 18 points in the second leg of the Grand Final against Ipswich, so nothing is decided at this stage.
Work has continued at the stadium following the heavy rain of the last ten days, which has caused previous postponements of the meeting.
And with a dry forecast for Thursday, there is now every expectation that the second leg will be able to take place as the two sides go head-to-head for the league title.
Lions make one change from the line-up which has taken them through the play-offs so far, as Lewis Kerr is now ineligible to guest for Craig Cook under the new October averages.
That means a return to Lions colours for Drew Kemp, who was a regular team member for most of the first half of the season, and he resumes his place at reserve.
Belle Vue now expect to be at full strength as Ben Cook, who was concussed in a heavy crash during the semi-final at Sheffield a fortnight ago, is set to make his comeback for his Championship club Poole on Wednesday.
The Aces include World No.4 Dan Bewley and top Aussie duo Brady Kurtz and Jaimon Lidsey who, along with Lions skipper Max Fricke, will be bidding for a place in next season’s Grand Prix series when they compete in the GP Challenge at Pardubice on Friday.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “We’ve given ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb, but can it be done? Yes, it can, anything is possible.
“Obviously if I’d won 54-36 in my home leg I’d be thinking we’d need to ride really bad for us to lose it in the second leg, so we’ve made it difficult for ourselves, but we’re going to try again on Thursday and see if we can get it back.
“The fans have come out in their numbers all season and we need them to get right behind us. If we can get off to a good start, you never know how things can change, it can happen in speedway.
“We’re under pressure but this Lions team have proved before this season that they can do it when it counts, so fingers crossed we can!”
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Richard Lawson, Sam Masters, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Drew Kemp, Sam Hagon.
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Jaimon Lidsey, Ben Cook, Dan Bewley, Antti Vuolas, Jake Mulford.
