LEICESTER round off their regular ROWE Motor Oil Premiership campaign when they head to Oxford on Thursday (7.30pm).
The Watling JCB Lions secured their play-off spot some time ago but this week’s fixtures will determine their position in the league table and who they face in the semi-finals.
A win at BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium would move the Lions up into second place unless Sheffield take a minimum of four points from their home and away matches against leaders Ipswich.
That could be significant as the Lions will race their play-off semi-final in week commencing Monday September 15, and second place in the table would entitle them to take the second leg at home. Their opponents in the last four will be either Sheffield or Ipswich, again dependant on this week’s results.
The immediate job for the Lions is to secure another win at Cowley, where they collected their first league victory on the road this season when they triumphed 49-41 on Easter Monday.
That result really got Leicester’s season moving but it proved to be a sign of things to come for the Spires, who have only won four matches all season – which has at least proved to be enough to avoid the wooden spoon, as all four of those wins have come against bottom club Birmingham.
Former Lions rider Richard Lawson guests at No.1 for the home side in place of Erik Riss, who has been a long-term absentee due to illness, and the Spires’ initially planned top two of Maciej Janowski and Rohan Tungate now line up as their middle order pairing.
Leicester are at full strength and as ever when they head to Sandy Lane, the track knowledge of Sam Masters will be an important factor as the Lions vice-captain rides for Oxford at Championship level.
Masters said: “We’re in good form, but Oxford isn’t the easiest of places to go to and I know a lot of our boys don’t particularly love that place, although I like it!
“It will be a good test for us and hopefully a good confidence booster going into the play-offs.
“We were on good form this time last year also, but hopefully we are better this year and we can go one step further. We have the team that can do it, and we’re all pretty keen and determined.”
For Lions fans not making the trip south, Oxford offer a live streaming service and the meeting will be covered at https://livestream.oxfordspeedway.club/ .
OXFORD: Richard Lawson, Victor Palovaara, Rohan Tungate, Maciej Janowski, Charles Wright, Peter Kildemand, Luke Killeen.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
