LEICESTER face league leaders Belle Vue in a huge top-of-the-table clash at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park on Thursday (7.30pm).
The Watling JCB Lions are second in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership standings, six points behind their opponents with two matches in hand.
Lions have been in excellent form ironically since a heavy defeat in Manchester in mid-June, having won five of their last six league fixtures.
But something has to give on Thursday because the Aces have also been enjoying a terrific run of six wins in seven, with both sides having won their last four.
Belle Vue’s home form continues to be highly impressive, with several scores of 60+ being recorded, including last time out against the Lions when they won 61-29.
But it is away from Manchester that they have made significant improvements this season, with a 50-40 win at King’s Lynn on Monday being an indication of their all-round power.
The Aces are led by World No.2 Brady Kurtz, who missed their KO Cup visit back in April due to illness, along with recent signing Jason Doyle who came in to replace the injured Dan Bewley.
Lower down the order, manager Mark Lemon has reserved particular praise for the development of reserves Tate Zischke and Will Cairns, who the Lions will also need to counter on Thursday.
Leicester are set to return to full strength with Nick Morris making his comeback from a back injury, and he slots back into the middle order alongside Kyle Howarth.
The prolific Ryan Douglas/Dan Thompson combination continues at No.1 and No.2 for the Lions, whose realistic target has to the win on the night, building up to next week’s KO Cup Final against Ipswich.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “Belle Vue are in great form and I think this will be another really good meeting, and another big test for us.
“I think if the track is like it was last week then the likes of Brady Kurtz and Jason Doyle will probably enjoy it, and they have other guys who can ride it too, but our riders are also happy with how it’s been recently.
“We’re confident going into the meeting that the way we’re riding at home we can take anyone on, because we look a decent team at home.
“It’s going to be a tough match and what we need to be doing first and foremost is scoring 46 points to get another win.
“Then we can look forward to a big week with the KO Cup Final, which was kind of put on the back burner once we’d qualified, but now it’s coming up fast and we’re excited for it.
“There was a really good atmosphere in the stadium last week against King’s Lynn and hopefully we can get that again because Belle Vue is always a big match.”
LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Nick Morris, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Peter Kildemand, Zach Cook, Jason Doyle, Tate Zischke, Will Cairns.
