PREVIEW: SHEFFIELD v LEICESTER (PREM KO CUP S/F)
PREMIERSHIP KO Cup holders Sheffield have to pull back 18 points to make another Final when they host Leicester at Owlerton tonight (Thursday).
The Lions seized control of the semi-final tie when they won 54-36 at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park earlier this month, and they know 37 points in South Yorkshire will be enough to take them through to face either King’s Lynn or Ipswich.
The Tigers welcome back captain Josh Pickering who missed their matches last week with a shoulder injury, but Rising Star Leon Flint is on the sidelines and Nathan Ablitt comes in to guest.
The Lions are unchanged with rider replacement in operation at No.2 for the injured Luke Becker.
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “18 points down – are we up against it? Yes, probably. Is it mission impossible? Not at all!
“Leicester had a massive off night at Ipswich on Monday by their own high standards that they have set in recent weeks – but it does go to reiterate what is possible if you get out and hit them hard from the off.
“It goes without saying that we need a much more dominant, all-round team display than in our last two home meetings and we need points from all areas of the team.”
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “It’s 50 years since this club reached the Final of the KO Cup in the top league, and that’s a long time!
“It would be very nice to reach the Final but I’m under no illusions, because we know Sheffield will throw everything at us initially.
“We need to make sure we hang in there, and hopefully we can see it out. We are certainly capable of doing it, so the first job is to get off to a decent start and then work our way through the meeting.”
SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder, Anders Rowe, Josh Pickering, Lewis Kerr, Chris Holder, Justin Sedgmen, Nathan Ablitt.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Luke Becker r/r, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
SCB Referee: Simon Humphrey-Kennett
*LIVE STREAMING: https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk
