PREVIEW: BERWICK v LEICESTER (Champ)

JOSH Bates has been ruled out of the start of Leicester’s Championship title defence at Berwick tonight (Saturday).

Bates suffered a shoulder injury in a crash at Sheffield on Thursday and sits out the trip to Shielfield Park.

The Lions will operate rider-replacement in his absence, with the Bandits continuing to use the same facility for the unavailable Coty Garcia.

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: ““I always get a really good welcome from the guys up at Berwick having known them for years. There is healthy mutual respect, but make no mistake, we are looking for something there.

“We will be looking to get something from every track we go to. A point is the minimum requirement from everywhere we go, and maybe we will look for a bit more at some places.”

BERWICK: Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen, Coty Garcia R/R, Jye Etheridge, Dany Gappmaier, Aaron Summers, Kyle Bickley, Leon Flint.
LEICESTER: Nick Morris, Ty Proctor, Kyle Howarth, Josh Bates R/R, Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Joe Thompson.