Sheffield Tigers Speedway: Expectations not an issue for Simon Stead

The Tru Plant Tigers launch their league campaign at Owlerton on Thursday (May 5, 7.30) against reigning Champions Peterborough in a truly mouthwatering top-flight clash.

The Steel City side have been tipped by many experts as pre-season favourites – and have demonstrated exactly why in their opening fixtures.

They have won all three of their Premiership League Cup fixtures to build some important momentum ahead of the league programme.

And Stead says he’s more than encouraged by the early signs his riders are showing in the opening weeks of the season.

“There is a lot of hype about this team and it’s great for us to thrive on that,” Stead said.

“But we also have to give our opponents the respect they deserve and ultimately nothing is won on paper.

“We have to do our job on track and so far this season we’ve done that.

“We’ve been focussed, we’ve been committed, we’ve worked very, very well together as a team and things are looking really, really good.

“The atmosphere in the pits is really, really good also and that can play a massive part.

“The dynamic of this team is really good and the beauty of it is when you look down the scorechart, particularly last time out against Belle Vue, everybody is doing their job and everybody is putting in a performance.

“That takes the pressure off the heat-leaders and it creates a more relaxed camp.

“That’s testament to all of the lads as well; they’ve been putting in the hard work and like I say, they’re focussed and they’re determined too.

“We just want to carry on from where we left off last time on Thursday and get our league campaign off to a winning start.”