PREVIEW: BELLE VUE v LEICESTER (ROWE MOTOR OIL PREM GRAND FINAL)

BELLE Vue and Leicester kick off the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final tonight (Monday) as the Aces stage the first leg in Manchester.

The 2022 champions overcame Sheffield in last week’s semi-final, but they are forced into a change for the title decider after Ben Cook crashed out at Owlerton and suffered concussion.

The Aces have called up Danish star Niels-Kristian Iversen to guest, with the King’s Lynn regular a former track record holder at the National Speedway Stadium.

Leicester have Ryan Douglas back from an arm injury after he missed their dramatic semi-final win over Ipswich, but Craig Cook remains on the sidelines so Lewis Kerr continues as guest at reserve.

The Lions have reached their first-ever Grand Final in the top-flight, but they did win at Championship level in 2019 under current boss Stewart Dickson.

Belle Vue CEO Mark Lemon said: “The excitement around the club has been building since we knocked Sheffield out. There’s real belief that we can take this all the way.

“You can feel the energy in the team has shifted. They meant business at Owlerton, they meant business at home and I strongly believe things will kick up another notch on Monday.

“Our skills at home are unquestionable, and we are one of the most successful teams where aggregate points are concerned and we’re not behind the door for getting results at Leicester.

“But we need to take things one step at a time, one race at a time as we did in the semi-finals, and hopefully all of our efforts will culminate in a positive outcome come Thursday.”

Dickson said: “It’s good for us to be going into the Final with a full team of seven riders. We got through the semi-final with rider replacement but I’d far rather have Dougy in the side, so it’s pleasing to have him back, and he’s raring to go.

“I know we can’t treat this like an ordinary meeting, it’s a Grand Final, but it will still be the usual story, the usual message – just like at Ipswich a couple of weeks ago, we need to make sure we keep the tie alive for the second leg back at Leicester.

“We need Max (Fricke) to lead from the front like he did the last time we were there, and then it’s about taking the second and third places, especially as there are no tactical substitutes at this stage.

“Everyone is buzzing about it and obviously the chance will be there with the second leg at home, but we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We have to keep the tie alive at Belle Vue first.”

BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Jaimon Lidsey, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Dan Bewley, Antti Vuolas, Jake Mulford.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Richard Lawson, Sam Masters, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Lewis Kerr, Sam Hagon.
SCB Referee: Phil Griffin