LAKESIDE Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, face the 2009 Sky Sports Elite League champions, the Wolverhampton Wolves at the Arena-Essex Raceway this Friday.

LAKESIDE Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, face the 2009 Sky Sports Elite League champions, the Wolverhampton Wolves at the Arena-Essex Raceway this Friday.

Wolverhampton are currently in second place in the League behind the runaway leaders Poole with the Hammers in fourth place just two points ahead of fifth place side the Belle Vue Aces.

With the top four qualifying for the end of season Play Offs Friday’s match against the Wolves is of the utmost importance to the Essex based Club if they are to progress to these play Offs. At this stage the Hammers have two matches in hand over Belle Vue with the Aces having ridden two more matches at home than the Hammers. Just one point ahead of the Hammers in third place in the table are the Peterborough Panthers, who have ridden the same number of meetings at home but have four away matches still to race compared to the Hammers two away fixtures.

The Hammers expect to have their new signing Peter Ljung back in their side and will make his home debut following his wrist injury sustained in a crash at Ipswich. They will also bring in their official No.8 Chris Neath at reserve to replace the injured Paul Hurry. The remainder of the Hammers line-up will the usual five riders namely Jonas Davidsson, Kauko Nieminen, Lee Richardson, Stuart Robson and Adam Shields.

As far as the Wolverhampton side is concerned they will be without the services of their Swedish Grand Prix star, Fredrik Lindgren, as he is due to compete in the Grand Prix Challenge Final in Vojens, Denmark the following day. They will be entitled to replace him with a guest and they have chosen former Wolverhampton legend, Peter Karlsson.

Their Pole, Adam Skornicki, is also expected to miss the match following a recent knee injury although he is expected to return to their side next week.

The Midlands club will utilise the ’Rider Replacement’ facility to cover his rides. In addition their ‘Doubling Up’ pair of Matthew Wethers and Joe Haines will not be available as they have prior engagements with their respective Premier League sides, Edinburgh and Redcar. Furthermore, their official No.8, Richard Lawson, is currently sidelined with a suspected shoulder injury. At this stage the Wolves Management have still to announce their chosen guest, who will ride at reserve alongside Ludvig Lindgren, the brother of their No.1 Fredrik. Great Britain international and Grand Prix rider, Tai Woffinden, captains the side and will be joined by Nicolai Klindt from Denmark and Australian Ty Proctor.

Friday’s vital match against Wolverhampton will see the usual start time of 8pm. The ‘Kids for a Quid’ scheme will be in operation whereby children between the ages of 6 and 16 inclusive will pay just �1 to watch top quality Speedway.

Meanwhile news has just been received from the Eastbourne Eagles Management advising the Hammers Promotion that the Elite League Knockout Cup 1st leg scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) at Eastbourne’s Arlington Stadium has been called off. It will now be staged on Thursday 23rd September with the 2nd leg now rescheduled for the following evening, Friday 24th September, at the Arena-Essex Raceway. This will allow the Hammers to still stage the 2nd leg and the fans from both clubs will be able to watch the two legs on consecutive nights. The Lakeside Hammers are the reigning Elite League Knockout Cup holders and will be determined to see off the Eagles on their way to, hopefully, retaining the Cup.