PREVIEW: LEICESTER v SHEFFIELD (ROWE MOTOR OIL PREM)

PLAY-OFF rivals Leicester and Sheffield meet in tonight’s (Monday) televised fixture at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park.

It’s the second time in two weeks that the sides have clashed in the East Midlands with the Lions, who are fourth in the league table, racing to an impressive 54-36 win in the first leg of their KO Cup semi-final last time out.

However, both sides are forced into a change for the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash with Leicester operating rider replacement for Luke Becker who was injured in Poland on Sunday.

Meanwhile the Tigers, who are top of the table on points difference, are without No.1 Jack Holder due to a Grand Prix qualifier in Germany, and Tom Brennan steps in to guest.

Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “I certainly don’t expect us to win by the same margin as last week, because as much as we were good in that meeting it was also clear that one or two of the Sheffield riders had an off-night, and they still are a very good side.

“It’s a meeting we very much need to win. It’s a couple of weeks ago now but we lost our last home match in the league against Birmingham.

“Although at the moment we have a nice gap to the sides outside the top four, we all know how quickly things can change in this sport, and we need to keep picking up the points.”

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “We can’t possibly be that bad collectively again. Last Monday gave us the opportunity to get some laps in and we know what to expect a little bit more now.

“We had race winners throughout the night, so that wasn’t necessarily the problem, but what we do need this time is more consistency and more of the second or third places.

“We know we’re more than capable of going to Leicester and getting a result – but now we have to go there and show that on the night.”

LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Luke Becker R/R, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
SHEFFIELD: Tom Brennan, Anders Rowe, Josh Pickering, Lewis Kerr, Chris Holder, Justin Sedgmen, Leon Flint.

SCB Referee: Seth Perkin