SHEFFIELD v FOXES, PREVIEW

NORTHAMPTON Foxes finally make their first-ever trip to Sheffield on Thursday (7.30pm) for their latest ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixture.

Previous scheduled appearances at Owlerton this season have fallen victim to the weather, meaning the Foxes have two matches to fulfil in South Yorkshire, with the second coming up in September.

Spirits are high after the 48-42 home win over King’s Lynn on Monday, which followed on from a dramatic 45-45 draw with the Tigers one week earlier.

However, this Thursday’s meeting is the Round 1 fixture and therefore it is Sheffield who are six points ahead where the aggregate point is concerned, that coming courtesy of their incredible comeback to win at the Shaleway back in mid-June.

The Tigers still have No.1 Jack Holder on the sidelines and they have elected to operate the rider replacement facility, which accrued them six points from his rides when they defeated Ipswich at Owlerton last week.

There is still plenty of home track expertise in their ranks with Foxes fans already well aware of what Sheffield skipper Josh Pickering can produce, whilst the likes of Anders Rowe and Leon Flint are fully capable of stringing wins together on their own circuit.

The Foxes are at full strength and they track an unchanged riding order for the final time before the change of averages for August which will see Niels-Kristian Iversen taking over in the No.1 position thus forcing a reshuffle.

Manager Chris Adams said: “We’re looking forward to Sheffield. It’s a tricky old place to go, and it’s a little bit like Belle Vue in that if you go there and you’re on the wrong set-up, you can be chasing hard but be left at the back.

“But we’re going there with positive feelings after our win at home on Monday, and we’ll see what we can do.”

There is no coverage of the meeting available as Sheffield do not live stream their home meetings; however, Foxes fans can keep up with the scores in real time by visiting the official British Speedway live updates service at https://live.britishspeedway.co.uk/ .

SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder R/R, Anders Rowe, Chris Holder, Leon Flint, Josh Pickering, Jye Etheridge, Luke Killeen.

NORTHAMPTON: Jaimon Lidsey, Kye Thomson, Matej Zagar, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Nicolai Klindt, Troy Batchelor, Luke Harrison.