Speedway news - The Premiership Grand Final line-up to be decided on thrilling night of action
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
ByEurosport
Updated 06/10/2021 at 22:48 GMT
“We’ll come back and we’ll be ready to do the job. We really feel we can do this. All the pressure is on Peterborough as the home team, so we’ll just give it everything we’ve got," said Wolverhampton skipper Rory Schlein ahead of their clash with Peterborough. Eurosport 2 will have live coverage of the second leg of the Peterborough/Wolverhampton tie.
Peterborough Panthers end Wolverhampton Wolves unbeaten home record
The Premiership Grand Final line-up will be decided on Thursday with both play-off semi-finals being raced to a finish on what promises to be a thrilling night of action.
Rain has affected the schedule over the last week, but clearer conditions are now forecast and Eurosport 2 will have live coverage of the second leg of the Peterborough/Wolverhampton tie with the hosts holding a narrow two-point advantage heading into the meeting.
Meanwhile, there will be regular updates from the National Speedway Stadium where Belle Vue host Sheffield having won 50-40 in the first leg at Owlerton on Monday.
The meeting at the East of England Arena is still viewed by many as too close to call, and Peterborough will once again make a late decision on the fitness of Danish star Michael Palm Toft.
Had Monday’s meeting gone ahead – it was called off due to heavy rain in late-afternoon – Palm Toft would have been missing due to damage to his left hand, which operates the clutch, suffered in his crash during the first leg.
The Panthers are set to give Palm Toft as long as possible to declare himself fit or otherwise, with Lewis Kerr again their likely stand-by option if the verdict is negative.
Wolves have a full-strength side but will need to pull off their best result of the season at Alwalton if they are to make it through to next week’s Grand Final, as their previous visits saw them suffer 51-39 and 49-41 defeats.
And skipper Rory Schlein is in buoyant mood as he looks to lead his side to the title in his final season in the sport before retiring.
Schlein said: “We’ll come back and we’ll be ready to do the job. We really feel we can do this.
All the pressure is on Peterborough as the home team, so we’ll just give it everything we’ve got.
The smart money would be on the winners of the Panthers/Wolves tie facing Belle Vue in the Grand Final – but Sheffield still insist they can have something to say about that.
The Tigers failed to take advantage of the absence of the injured Brady Kurtz for the Aces on Monday, and the Australian is missing one more as Belle Vue return home, with rider-replacement once again deployed as cover.
Sheffield boss Simon Stead has been quick to point out how after their last home defeat to Peterborough, the Tigers hit back in the return fixture on the road just four days later – and he needs a similar response in Manchester to overturn a significant deficit.
Stead said: “It’s over two legs, we’ve still got to go to Belle Vue, and just recently we lost a home match against Peterborough 50-40 and then in the return leg we turned that round and won 51-39.
“It’s not ‘not doable’ and we have to go there with belief. We want to go there and do it, and I still feel like it’s an achievable target for us.”
Join Abi Stephens and the team for live coverage from Peterborough and all the updates from Belle Vue, with expert analysis provided by Danny King and Sam Ermolenko. Thursday’s coverage starts from 7.30pm on Eurosport 2.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement