LEICESTER resume their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership campaign with a tough trip to leaders Belle Vue on Monday (7.30pm).
The Watling JCB Lions have seen two of their last three home matches postponed due to inclement weather, and they are now set to race three away fixtures on the bounce before their return to the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park.
Their clash with the Aces in Manchester is followed by away matches next week at King’s Lynn and Sheffield, all of which will provide a stern test of the Lions’ capabilities.
Stewart Dickson’s side haven’t raced since May 28 when they performed strongly to record a home win over Sheffield, leaving them second in the league table.
Kyle Howarth crashed out of that meeting in Heat 14 but he is now back racing having served a mandatory concussion absence, and he lines up at reserve at the National Speedway Stadium with Drew Kemp now in the main body of the team.
It’s a full-strength side for the visitors as Dan Thompson has also made his comeback from a broken collarbone with two meetings in three nights for Edinburgh in the Championship last week, and he resumes his opening combination with No.1 Ryan Douglas.
Belle Vue were rocked last month by the injuries sustained by World No.3 Dan Bewley, who is on the long-term sidelines with a broken femur – but they have swooped to sign Jason Doyle, who had been out of British racing at the start of the season, and the 2017 World Champion will make his debut on Monday.
The Aces are top of the table and have managed to maintain a strong home record despite injuries and absences for Peter Kildemand and Norick Blodorn, with Kildemand now back racing after his own broken collarbone.
Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “Belle Vue is always a difficult place to go, and we were well beaten there on Easter Monday although that was our first match of the season and it was important not to over-react to that result.
“We’ve shown what we can do since then, but there’s no hiding from the fact that this has been a tough fixture for us ever since we’ve come into the Premiership.
“Aggregate points are very important in this league and the first priority is to look to keep things as tight as possible for when they come back to our track next month.
“Obviously if there’s an opportunity for more then we’ll do all we can to take it, and I would certainly expect a better performance than we managed back in April.”
Lions fans not making the trip to Manchester can stream the action via BSN, with passes available from https://www.britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk/ .
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Peter Kildemand, Zach Cook, Jason Doyle, Tate Zischke, Will Cairns.
LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Nick Morris, Drew Kemp, Sam Masters, Kyle Howarth, Joe Thompson.
