KING’S Lynn enter the most critical phase of their season with a huge home clash against Premiership leaders Ipswich at the Adrian Flux Arena on Thursday (7.30pm).
The Minors & Brady Stars have nine league matches remaining, five of them at home, and still firmly believe with new signing Nicolai Klindt bolstering their ranks they can stage a run to the play-offs.
Stars are eleven points behind Sheffield but perhaps more realistically they are twelve behind Wolverhampton with two matches in hand, with the scheduled clash between those two sides on Thursday postponed due to stadium work at Owlerton.
Lynn’s local derby with the Witches sees Klindt make his first appearance, whilst August averages mean skipper Josh Pickering returns to the No.1 position.
Klindt slots in at No.4 to form a strong-looking combination with Richie Worrall, with Richard Lawson lining up at No.5.
Rising Star Jack Thomas had been expected to return at reserve, but unfortunately his latest comeback from broken wrists proved unsuccessful at Oxford on Tuesday, and he faces another spell on the sidelines – so Jason Edwards, who has impressed of late, retains his place.
Previous meetings between the sides at the AFA this season saw the Stars roar to a 56-34 win in the League Cup before being overturned 43-47 in the league in early June, which was the night on which Thomas crashed out.
But the Witches have suffered their own problems of late with former Lynn racer Erik Riss out with a broken fibula, and Ben Barker is currently suspended pending the outcome of laboratory studies on a non-negative drugs/alcohol test.
The visitors operate rider replacement for Riss, and bring in their own squad member Anders Rowe effectively as a guest for Barker.
Stars co-promoter Dale Allitt said: “Ipswich are top of the league for a reason and we’re under no illusions that this will be a difficult match.
“Doyley (Jason Doyle) is a relentless force in this division, so we know what to expect to a certain degree.
“They come here without two of our former riders, Ben and Erik, which definitely weakens them, but we can’t take anything for granted and need to be on it from the very start.”
Meanwhile club sponsors Minors & Brady have supplied 100 air horns, which will be given out free of charge to the first 100 children through the gates as the Stars look to generate a big local derby atmosphere, and they have also supplied a face painter for the kids.
KING’S LYNN: Josh Pickering, Thomas Jorgensen, Richie Worrall, Nicolai Klindt, Richard Lawson, Lewis Kerr, Jason Edwards. IPSWICH: Jason Doyle, Erik Riss R/R, Danny King, Anders Rowe, Troy Batchelor, Paul Starke, Danyon Hume.
