Speedway: Riding with Leicester is a bonus for Sheffield's Todd Kurtz

Aussie ace Kurtz is in his second season at Owlerton but he’s now been handed extra outings as part of Leicester’s top flight squad. And he says working with Tigers boss Simon Stead has been a big bonus since his switch to South Yorkshire.

He said: “Of course already knowing Damien and Marc (Bates – Leicester co-promoters) was a big advantage for me because I work with them at Sheffield as well. When they asked me if I wanted the team place we didn’t discuss too much in terms of any sort of deal because I just wanted to take the chance to ride in the Premiership.

“So hopefully everyone will see enough from me to keep me on. As far as I’m concerned, I’m here to stay.”

And it’s another Sheffield connection that made the move a no-brainer for the Aussie. “Having Steady as team manager was another thing that made the decision easy,” Kurtz said.

“As I’ve mentioned, any Premiership team place that came up I’d probably have taken it, but having so many things the same at Leicester that’s at Sheffield too could be an advantage to me. It should help me settle in quicker than if it was all totally new and working with Steady more is going to be great. We won the league at Sheffield last year - that’s something we’ll never forget.”

Kurtz added: “He’s helped me heaps since I joined Sheffield and working with him more could help me take some positive steps in the right direction hopefully.”

Tigers are back in action on Thursday with a big match against in-form Workington at Owlerton.

And they’ll go into it with stinging criticism from boss Stead ringing in their ears after the poor performance at Berwick last weekend.