Swindon are desperate to get back to winning ways when they celebrate their 69th Anniversary at the Abbey Stadium against Leicester on Monday (7.30pm).
The CFS Filtration Robins will be racing 69 years to the day since their first meeting, and supporters are urged to arrive early with pre-meeting entertainment planned.
Gates open at 6pm, and there will be action on both the main and mini tracks from 7pm with a combination of riders from past, present and future.
The main business of the evening sees the Robins take on a heavily-changed Lions outfit, looking to bounce back from a run of three successive defeats.
Alun Rossiter’s side welcome back Frenchman David Bellego (pictured), who missed last week’s meetings due to a scaphoid injury, with rider-replacement proving a major handicap against both Wolverhampton and Somerset.
Bellego will race at No.2 alongside skipper Nick Morris, meaning the Robins’ top five is back at full strength.
They are still without reserve Zach Wajtknecht who serves out the final day of his compulsory concussion absence, but this time Rossiter has secured the services of talented Frenchman Dimitri Berge to step in.
Rossiter said: “Dimitri is actually a rider I’ve been monitoring for a few years, but every time I’ve gone to sign him he hasn’t quite been on the right average.
“But we saw him racing in the Speedway of Nations and I’m confident he can do a job for us here.
“It’s been so hard once again to replace Zach. We don’t realise how important he is to us, and he’s irreplaceable on his average really compared to the riders he’s been beating, but hopefully I’ve come up with a good one this time!
“David says the swelling has gone down so he feels able to return, and that’s a relief after Thursday.
“I’m sure everyone will come to the party on Monday and hopefully we can get back to winning ways.”
Leicester arrive after a run of defeats of their own, with the most recent at home to King’s Lynn prompting wholesale changes at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena.
The Lions remarkably axed four of their seven riders after that meeting, with former Rye House riders Scott Nicholls and Stuart Robson amongst those incoming, along with Josh Auty and youngster Connor Mountain.
It all means ex-Robins skipper Hans Andersen is the only Leicester rider remaining from the aborted, weather-wrecked April clash between the sides at the Abbey which was curtailed after the first attempt to run Heat 1 when Martin Vaculik suffered a serious ankle injury.
Supporters are reminded to use their admission vouchers from Thursday’s meeting, which will entitle them to £10 entry on Monday.
SWINDON: Nick Morris, David Bellego, Adam Ellis, Tobiasz Musielak, Troy Batchelor, Dimitri Berge, Jack Smith.
LEICESTER: Hans Andersen, Charles Wright, Josh Auty, Ricky Wells, Scott Nicholls, Connor Mountain, Stuart Robson.
