Ipswich boss Paul Hurry warned his side to be on their guard as the Tru7 Group Witches face a King’s Lynn side seeking revenge in Bank Holiday Monday action at Foxhall Stadium from 2.15pm.
The Witches launched their season by beating their East Anglian rivals 50-40 at Foxhall in the Premiership Knockout Cup on April 9, before following that up with an impressive 47-43 win away to King’s Lynn on April 13.
Despite his side winning four of their five opening meetings in all competitions, Hurry is expecting a backlash from the Stars following that home-and-away double.
He said: “Obviously, they will be looking for revenge, and this is a league meeting. They have had a few meetings to get in gear now. A few of their riders are starting to fire. We just have to hit the ground running, do what we do and focus.
“When you look at the scores, yes, we have won meetings, but when you look down the list, there is still room for improvement from everyone. When you have a successful team, one of you may be off form, but the others will pick up the pieces. You just can’t afford for more than one or two to have a bad meeting. That’s when things start to get sketchy.”
The Witches go into Monday’s meeting without Swedish star Philip Hellstrom-Bangs who is suspended for two weeks by his national federation SVEMO. Former Witches favourite Jordan Jenkins steps in as a guest against the Stars.
Hurry is sorry to see Hellstrom-Bangs’ progress in the UK put on hold. He said: “Philip had it dialled in here at the last home meeting (against Northampton) and now he’s going to have this forced break. It is what it is, and we have to get through this spell.
“It’s gutting for him because he had just started to come into form. He is really enjoying himself and he has fitted in well with everyone. To take him out of the equation for a couple of meetings will be a big loss, but hopefully we can cover for that and move on from there.”
Hurry, who raced for the Witches back in 2003, has enjoyed his first month as Ipswich team manager – a period that has already seen him set up a Premiership Knockout Cup Final showdown with holders Leicester.
“It’s nice to have been welcomed into the club and everything is working well,” he said. “Everyone is enjoying themselves and I have been received really well.
“I want to say a big thanks to Richard Coleman and Andrew Chisholm. It has been very professional, and as everyone can probably see, there are licks of paint going up here and there. The place is clean and tidy. I can only see them taking Ipswich Speedway and speedway in general forward.”
STARTING LINE-UPS
IPSWICH TRU7 GROUP WITCHES: 1. Tom Brennan, 2. Danny King (captain), 3. Richard Lawson, 4. Scott Nicholls, 5. Tobiasz Musielak, 6. Jordan Jenkins (guest), 7. Jason Edwards.
KING’S LYNN STARS: 1. Max Fricke, 2. Paco Castagna, 3. Chris Harris (captain), 4. Ben Cook, 5. Jan Kvech, 6. Cooper Rushen, 7. Jody Scott.