Speedway: Sheffield Tigers have the talent to reach Grand Final

Sheffield stalwart Eric Boocock is adamant they are capable of overcoming Glasgow to reach the Premier League Grand Final.

The injury-hit Tigers will head into the first leg of their semi-final encounter at Owlerton on Wednesday (7.30) knowing a victory is crucial to keep their hopes of a surprise aggregate victory alive.

Having scrapped into the top six, they will be considered underdogs against a star-studded Glasgow side who finished second in the standings. But having defied the odds to see off Newcastle in the quarter-finals, Boocock sees no reason his side cannot repeat the trick.

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“They’re a good team, but I don’t see why we can’t make it through to the final,” Boocock said. “I thought it was probably harder to win at Newcastle than Glasgow, so after getting through that quarter-final we’re looking to go all the way. I suppose if we had a choice we’d have preferred the second leg at home, because then you know exactly what you have to do.

“As it is we’ll try and win by as many points as we possibly can on Wednesday to put us in a good position heading up to Glasgow.

“Somerset gave them a good beating in the League Cup, so we have to believe we can do the same over the two legs.

“We’ve got some guests in again so hopefully they can do a good job and we can get the right result.”

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There has been plenty of frustration surrounding their semi-final showdown, with both original dates succumbing to the weather.

Sheffield’s home leg was postponed last Thursday before their trip to Ashfield was also washed out yesterday.

And Boocock believes stamina could come into play as the season continues to drag on.

“Everyone is getting tired,” he added. “It’s the end of the season, it’s been a long year and we’re having a lot of rain-offs.

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“Every meeting is being put back and waiting for other people which is a problem, and in my opinion we shouldn’t be running such big meetings this late in the year.

“It should be all over by the middle of September, but that’s another issue. We’ve been here before, many times, and we’ll just get on with the job at hand.”