LEICESTER return to their play-off chase in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership when they face nearest rivals King’s Lynn at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park on Thursday (7.30pm).
The Watling JCB Lions hit the 60-point mark in their last home league outing when they demolished champions Belle Vue, and last week they secured a place in the KO Cup Final with a great performance at Sheffield.
But King’s Lynn presents a different test with their packed team where the threat could come from almost any area, and it is very likely to come from reserve.
The Stars have improved after a shaky start to the season and when they won at Oxford last month in addition to a home victory over Ipswich, they were putting real pressure on for a top four place.
A run of away matches saw them force both Sheffield and Belle Vue into last-heat deciders, but they did suffer a damaging result on Monday when they lost 49-41 at basement club Birmingham in a meeting which saw both Ben Cook and Jan Kvech withdraw after aggravating injuries.
It means the Stars will arrive in the East Midlands four points behind the Lions in the league table, having ridden two matches more – and therefore a Leicester win would be another big step towards the play-offs.
New averages are in force for July but there is no change to the Lions’ riding order, with rider replacement continuing to operate for the injured Luke Becker who remains second in the team averages.
The Lynn line-up has regularly shuffled this season with each of their top six riders having an average of between six and seven.
This month it’s Niels-Kristian Iversen who takes over at No.1 with former Leicester rider Richard Lawson in the No.2 berth where he was so successful for the Lions in 2023/24.
Meanwhile Nicolai Klindt, who rode for Leicester in their previous spell in the top-flight, will be one to watch at reserve.
Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “As the season goes on the meetings get bigger, and King’s Lynn had been on a good run before Monday.
“It was a good result for us when they lost at Birmingham but we still need to be on our game because they will come here knowing they need a win, so it has the real prospect of being a humdinger of a meeting.
“I’m happy with our home form at the moment and with the way the team is set up. We will go into the meeting confident but knowing we have a job to do.”
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Luke Becker R/R, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
KING’S LYNN: Niels-Kristian Iversen, Richard Lawson, Chris Harris, Ben Cook, Jan Kvech, Nicolai Klindt, Luke Harrison.
