PREVIEW: LEICESTER v NORTHAMPTON (ROWE MOTOR OIL PREM)

LEICESTER launch their bid to reach a third successive ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final when they host newcomers Northampton tonight (7.30pm).

The Lions have already enjoyed a successful start to 2026 by winning the northern section of the KO Cup, leading to a Final against Ipswich later this summer.

Now they go into league action for the first time, and they will be at full strength with Dan Gilkes lining up in the Rising Star berth after missing the Cup matches as his knee injury required additional time to recover – whilst Ryan Douglas races at No.1 as usual despite crashing out of their last fixture.

The Foxes will face their second meeting of the day, with Michael Palm Toft coming to guest for the absent Niels-Kristian Iversen.

Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “We’re delighted to have reached the KO Cup Final, but we can park that now for the time being and focus on getting league points on the board.

“I won’t say this is where the serious stuff starts because every meeting is serious to me, but obviously we have ambitions to challenge again in the league and we want to start with a win.

“We’re very pleased to see Northampton up and running, and I have to say their results in their early away matches were pretty encouraging, so we have to all do our jobs to make sure we get the result.”

LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Nick Morris, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Dan Gilkes.

NORTHAMPTON: Jaimon Lidsey, Troy Batchelor, Matej Zagar, Michael Palm Toft, Nicolai Klindt, Kye Thomson, Luke Harrison.

SCB Referee: Seth Perkin

*LIVE STREAMING: https://www.leicesterlionstv.com/