PREVIEW: BIRMINGHAM v IPSWICH (ROWE MOTOR OIL PREM)
ROWE Motor Oil Premiership leaders Ipswich have suffered a major injury crisis with three of their top four riders missing from tonight’s (Monday) trip to Birmingham.
With skipper Danny King (hand) still on the sidelines, the Witches lost Jason Doyle with rib and shoulder injuries in a crash at King’s Lynn on Thursday before Adam Ellis, who was to captain the team at Perry Barr, suffered a dislocated shoulder in France on Sunday.
Nicolai Klindt and Troy Batchelor step in as guests with rider replacement in operation for Doyle, whilst the Brummies have Justin Sedgmen making his debut after rejoining the club recently.
Birmingham CEO Nigel Tolley said: “If we can pick up where we left off at home to Belle Vue and get off to a fast start then we’ll give ourselves a real chance.
“As Sam (Ermolenko – team manager) has said previously, we want to try and get a run going at home now; we’re doing everything we can to try and turn things around in the second half of this season, and hopefully this Bank Holiday weekend can go a long way to us doing just that.”
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We are buzzing with our form and are in great spirits, but we are going to be missing Jason, Danny and Adam which is a big blow to us.
“It is the first time we have been there for a long time, but we have faced a lot of challenges already this season and have taken them in our stride.
“We will continue to do that on Monday, and even though we are depleted we are looking to get another victory and carry on this superb run we are on at the top of the league.”
BIRMINGHAM: Piotr Pawlicki, Steve Worrall, Zach Cook, Justin Sedgmen, Tom Brennan, Wiktor Lampart, Leon Flint.
IPSWICH: Emil Sayfutdinov, Nicolai Klindt, Jason Doyle R/R, Dan Thompson, Troy Batchelor, Keynan Rew, Jordan Jenkins.
SCB Referee: Paul Carrington
