PREVIEW: PREMIERSHIP PAIRS ROUND 4

WOLVERHAMPTON stage the fourth round of the Premiership Pairs tonight (Monday, 8pm) – with the top three clubs covered by just four points.

Ipswich lead the standings after winning both of the last two rounds, and they are closely followed by Sheffield, runners-up in all three so far, and King’s Lynn who have been consistent in the first half of the series.

Troy Batchelor returns to partner Jason Doyle for Ipswich, Sheffield again have Jack Holder joining Adam Ellis after Tobiasz Musielak was ruled out, and the Stars retain their combination of Josh Pickering and Richard Lawson.

Host club Wolves are represented by Sam Masters and Nick Morris, whilst Scott Nicholls makes his first appearance of the series for Peterborough alongside Chris Harris, and Australian duo Max Fricke and Brady Kurtz line up for Belle Vue.

Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “We know we need a big result on Monday night and hopefully Sam and Nick can continue their recent form around Monmore to get us the result we need.

“With the standings beginning to take shape, it’s fair to say we’re not at all best placed right now and could do with a win; both Sam and Nick been very strong at home for some time now and let’s hope they can deliver the type of performance we need to give us some hope with two rounds to come after Monday.”

Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “We are leading the competition at the moment, so we go there wanting to cement that position and have another great round because we have really enjoyed winning the last two rounds.

“I have gone with Doyley and Batch. We say it every round, but Doyley picks himself and I felt over the two meetings we have had there, Batch has been slightly better than Danny (King).

“The decision was made before Thursday’s win over Belle Vue, but his great form in that meeting fills us with confidence and I feel it is a place he likes, and it suits him.”

As with all rounds in the series, the meeting will be live-streamed by the British Speedway Network. Full details at https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk .