PREVIEW: SCUNTHORPE v LEICESTER (Champ)

SCUNTHORPE welcome back Adam Ellis as British Champion for the first time ahead of a big clash with play-off rivals Leicester tonight (Friday).

The Scorpions are unbeaten at the Eddie Wright Raceway in the league this season, but the Lions were victorious at the Lincolnshire venue in the KO Cup.

The home side operate rider-replacement for the injured Jordan Palin, who has moved up into the main body of the team, whilst Tero Aarnio is absent due to visa issues and Connor Mountain steps in.

Nick Morris remains on the sidelines for the Lions with concussion, and Aaron Summers comes in to guest.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “The bad news about Jordan’s collarbone injury is that he could well be out for longer than a couple of weeks. Things didn’t look good on the most recent X-ray he had on Wednesday. It shows that it is a break, and it is misaligned.

“The one good thing is that skipper Simon Lambert has dropped to reserve, despite having increased his average from 5.03 at the start of the season to 5.81 now.

“It’s going to be a great night of speedway between two teams going all out for the victory, while it’s the first opportunity for supporters to see Adam Ellis race around the Eddie Wright Raceway since he won the British Final – the biggest individual title ever won by a Scorpion.”

Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “We’ve got a very good balance throughout this septet and even the younger lads in some of the more difficult positions are starting to come into their own.

“What we need to do now is step things up to the next level and prove to ourselves, before anyone else, that we deserve a shot at this year’s Championship title.”

SCUNTHORPE: Adam Ellis, Jordan Palin r/r, Theo Pjjper, Connor Mountain, Thomas Jorgensen, Josh MacDonald, Simon Lambert.
LEICESTER: Hans Andersen, Dan Thompson, Aaron Summers, Kyle Howarth, Ryan Douglas, Joe Thompson, Zaine Kennedy.