Sheffield Tigers speedway fans can drive team to first leg victory tonight

The Tigers are gearing up for their first play-off semi-final since 2010 as the Ashfield outfit visit Owlerton.

Bates is desperate to see fans from across the area turn out in force to back his side as they aim to bring title glory back to the city for the first time since 2002.

With some key injuries leaving them as underdogs, Bates believes a big crowd could give them an edge in order to build up a healthy lead ahead of the second leg.

“It’s the semi-final of the play-offs, which is massive for the club and the city,” Bates said.

“Hopefully we can get a good crowd in to support the boys and give us that extra boost to get the job done. We’ve reached the play-offs the last two years now, and this is the furthest we’ve got since we took over the club as a promotion.

“We’re progressing well, and the crowd deserve it because they’re a loyal bunch who support us through thick and thin. We’re desperate to be successful for them and we hope there will be a big crowd to back us” said Bates. “We’ve got a few injuries so it’s going to take a big effort over the two legs but we can do it.

“We may be underdogs for the tie, but I don’t think we’re underdogs at home. We can win, it just depends how many points we can get to take up to their place. Glasgow are a good team but they’ve had a couple of bad results recently so it all depends how they react to it.”

SHEFFIELD: Ricky Wells, Josh Auty, Josh Bates, Simon Stead R/R, Kyle Howarth, Arthur Sissis, Nathan Greaves.

GLASGOW: Richie Worrall, Nike Lunna, Aaron Summers, Rene Bach, Richard Lawson, Fernando Garcia, Danny Ayres.