Speedway: Sheffield Tigers boss says sorry to Owlerton fans

The side slumped to a 53-37 home defeat to Scunthorpe in front of a big and disappointed crowd on Thursday. Team spirit is being tested as the riders struggle for set-up and confidence.

Said Stead “We were beaten by the better side and Scunthorpe just looked way more up for it than we did.

“Again it’s not acceptable and the riders need to take another long hard look at themselves.

“We’ve addressed them and told them our supporters deserve better. They’re the ones giving up their Thursday nights to come to Owlerton and spend their hard-earned money to cheer the team on.

“Yes they’ll have been entertained by some of the racing that went on, but they also expect much better results wise. The past two home meetings have been very hard to swallow.

“But we’ve made it abundantly clear that we’re not happy, now it’s down to them to turn things around because the Sheffield supporters deserve so much better and I can only apologise.”

Sheffield have a clear week to regroup before facing Redcar at home on Thursday – the start of three meetings in three days.

They head to Teesside for the return on Friday and then travel across to Workington on Saturday.

“We have to look to hit back then,” said Stead.

“We cannot afford to keep losing and we’ll be working hard to put things right.”