GRAND Finalists Leicester take a break from the drama of the play-offs when they contest their final regular ROWE Motor Oil Premiership match of the season at Oxford on Thursday (7.30pm).
The meeting was originally scheduled for three weeks ago, on the final night before the cut-off for play-off qualification, but it fell victim to the weather and has now been slotted into a blank date in the schedule.
The Watling JCB Lions will obviously be looking for a trouble-free evening, but they are also keen to take a seventh away win in the league this season, the first of which came at Cowley on Easter Monday.
Oxford have endured a tough campaign with only four wins home and away, all of which were against bottom club Birmingham.
They have also announced that Thursday will be their final Spires fixture as after two seasons of running teams at all three levels of British Speedway, in 2026 they will return to running Cheetahs and Chargers sides only.
The home side bring in former Lions rider Richard Lawson to guest at No.1 for long-term illness victim Erik Riss.
Leicester are unchanged from Monday’s sensational play-off win over Sheffield, as they build up to the Grand Final against Ipswich the week after next.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “For the riders this is part of their earnings, it’s part of their league programme, and it’s also part of my league programme as team manager.
“We will go there to try and win the meeting, as we normally do. I don’t think we’ll go gung-ho, but when riders put their helmet on, they need to race – it’s just the way they are!
“We go there in a buoyant, confident mood, and we hope Oxford put on their usual well-prepared track. Our riders enjoy going there, and it’s a match we will look to win.”
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.
