The Ipswich Witches and the Sheffield Tigers meet in a big clash of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership’s top two at Foxhall tonight (Monday).
The Witches and the Tigers contested last season’s Grand Final, and whilst the South Yorkshire side were crowned champions, the Suffolk outfit gained an away win when they raced at Owlerton last month.
With Jason Doyle and Danny King on the sidelines, GB stalwarts Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls come in to guest for the Witches, with Dan Thompson back from illness.
Meanwhile the Tigers are at full strength and have lost only one of their four away league matches, although they were beaten in the KO Cup at King’s Lynn last week.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We are slowly getting there and when Scotty comes in, he doesn’t feel like a guest. We know what we are going to get with Chris, and they have both been brilliant on their recent visits to Foxhall so we will hope for the same again.
“We are putting out a good one to seven, and one that is capable of winning the meeting, so we have got to come out again and keep fighting.
“I’m sure everyone will be looking forward to Emil (Sayfutdinov) going to battle with the big stars from Sheffield. They are bringing a lot of big names and I think it is going to be one hell of a meeting for everyone at Foxhall, it should be a classic.”
Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “They got a win over us at home and we can sort of make ourselves feel a little bit better by going there and returning the favour.
“Ipswich is never an easy place to go to but it’s somewhere we’re looking to go to and get a result.
“No doubt that will be a tough test for us though and we’re going to need everybody firing.”
IPSWICH: Chris Harris, Dan Thompson, Scott Nicholls, Adam Ellis, Emil Sayfutdinov, Keynan Rew, Jordan Jenkins.
SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder, Kyle Howarth, Chris Holder, Josh Pickering, Tai Woffinden, Jason Edwards, Dan Gilkes.
SCB Referee: Chris Gay
Words and Images by British Speedway
