LEICESTER manager Stewart Dickson is confident the familiarity factor will help his side click quickly back into gear this season.
The Watling JCB Lions have made just one change to their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership line-up despite finishing significantly above the points limit due to their success in 2024.
Kyle Howarth is the sole incoming rider, but Dickson admits this is not truly a case of integrating a newcomer into the set-up because of his past experience with the club.
Howarth skippered the Lions at Championship level in 2021 and 2022 and he therefore returns to the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park with a decent knowledge base from the start.
Dickson said: “There was always going to have to be a change to the team from last season, because when you look back at it we were only one more win away from finishing top of the tree.
“So in terms of the league season we got it right in terms of the team we had, although I know it never worked out for us in the Grand Final.
“We do realise that Kyle has got to step up to replace Richard Lawson, but we feel he was very much the right option on a 5.05 average with the British discount.
“When it became clear he was leaving Sheffield we knew Leicester was Kyle’s preferred choice so we quickly got a deal done with him.
“I do think he’s a rider who very much needs a change of track, and coming back to Leicester will do him good. Yes, it was the Championship when he raced here before but he was really good once he got the hang of it.
“When he gets some practice in and gets his set-ups sorted I think he’ll be good, and he’ll also bring an energy to the pits.
“There’s nothing new to the other riders in the team this season, especially the other riders in our top five, and they are all settled. There are no surprises for them, and they know what they’re coming back to.
“They all know the track pretty well, and that includes the reserves who are both very capable, so for me we should be very solid and we’re now coming up to the time when we’re really looking forward to getting started.”
Lions kick off their season with a big local derby KO Cup quarter-final tie against Birmingham, with the first leg at Perry Barr on Monday March 24, with the home return coming 72 hours later on March 27.
Their opening league match is a repeat of last year’s Grand Final as they host Belle Vue at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park on Thursday April 10.
Before all that, a big-name line-up will be on track in honour of Lions star Ryan Douglas, who celebrates his Testimonial Meeting on Saturday March 22 (4pm).
