PREVIEW: BELLE VUE v EDINBURGH (WSRA NDL)
BELLE VUE and Edinburgh meet in the WSRA NDL tonight (Friday) with both sides looking to finish the season strongly.
The Colts are fourth in the table but could still challenge for second if results go their way, whilst the Monarchs Academy have five matches remaining to move up from the bottom.
Both teams make changes due to Championship commitments with Joe Thompson coming in for Belle Vue in place of Sam Hagon, whilst Edinburgh operate rider replacement for Connor Coles.
Jack Shimelt replaces the injured Chad Wirtzfeld for the Colts, who operate rider replacement for Luke Muff, and Lee Harrison comes in at reserve for the Monarchs Academy with Kyran Lyden unavailable.
Belle Vue co-boss Steve Williams said: “It’s not ideal to be missing a few the boys, particularly Sam who is, ironically, riding for Poole at Edinburgh but we have to work with what we have.
“But I feel we will still be more than competitive. We’ve got Joe Thompson coming in to cover at No.1, we’ve got Freddy (Hodder), we’ve got William (Cairns), we’ve got Matt (Marson) – all the boys are well up for this.
“The Academy have a strong middle order and we are definitely in for a challenging but exciting night and our priority is to make sure we pick up a good advantage ahead of our trip up there.”
BELLE VUE: Joe Thompson, Jack Shimelt, Luke Muff r/r, Matt Marson, Freddy Hodder, William Cairns, Harry McGurk.
EDINBURGH: Connor Coles r/r, Mason Watson, Sam McGurk, Dayle Wood, Max Perry, Mark Parker, Lee Harrison.
SCB Referee: Phil Griffin