Speedway: Sheffield boss hoping for quicker start as Tigers face Oxford in first home meeting of season

Sheffield speedway boss Simon Stead wants a quicker start from Sheffield when they face Oxford in their first home meeting of the season.

The TR7 Group Tigers have found themselves having to battle back from behind in their first two meetings, a defeat at Oxford and a victory through a superheat at Birmingham.

Rowe Motor Oil Premiership newcomers Oxford are the visitors - and the aggregate point is also up for grabs after the Spires won their home clash 47-43.

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Sheffield came from 10 points down at Birmingham to earn a draw before then claiming the extra league point from a Super Heat.

Stead said: “It’s been a long winter, we’ve got two away meetings under our belt and we can’t wait for our first home meeting,” Stead said.

“It’s good to be welcoming Oxford to Owlerton for the first time in a very long time - but it will be another test for us that’s for sure.

“In our first two away meetings, you can see a bit of rustiness through a lack of track time but you’ve seen the lads get dialled in as the meeting goes on.

“It’s been such a long time since they got any laps in at home, but because it’s a track that’s a lot more familiar to them, hopefully it won’t take as long to blow any remaining cobwebs away and hopefully we can get going from Heat One rather than mid-meeting!”

Oxford boss Peter Schroeck expects a strong performance from Sheffield.

He said: “Sheffield have already announced they’re going to be a big player in the Premiership this season, in my view. They’ve showed a lot of determination and fight in their two meetings to date, so we’ll need to be riding at our best on Thursday.

“As for ourselves, confidence and spirit in the camp is really high with two wins under our belt before the turn of the month. What excites me is we still have room for improvement, which I’d expect at this time of year given we’re only in the opening weeks of the season.

“Thursday will be a new challenge for the team, but most of the boys have experience riding at Sheffield so we’ll look to use that to our advantage. It’s a busy Easter weekend for the club – hopefully we can start things on the right note!”

The two sides remain unchanged from last week’s clash with Polish World Cup winner Maciej Janowski leading the Spires who also include Chris Harris, who was part of the Tigers team that won the Owlerton play-off final in October, and three former Tigers in Lewis Kerr, Charles Wright and Nicolai Klindt.

Admission is £23 adults, £21 concessions (over 65s and students - both with evidence), £1 kids (up to and including age 17) whilst all under-5s are admitted free of charge.

Sheffield: Jack Holder, Kyle Howarth, Chris Holder, Josh Pickering, Tai Woffinden, Jason Edwards, Dan Gilkes.

Oxford: Maciej Janowski, Charles Wright, Nicolai Klindt, Chris Harris, Rohan Tungate, Lewis Kerr, Ashton Boughen.