SPEEDWAYIpswich Witches v Belle Vue AcesKO Cup, first round, first leg.Foxhall Stadium, 7.30pmBy Mike BaconIT'S 'a must win' meeting, according to Witches star Danny King, as Ipswich entertain Belle Vue in the knock-out cup at Foxhall Stadium tonight.

Mike Bacon

Witches in 'must win'

meeting says Danny

SPEEDWAY

Ipswich Witches v Belle Vue Aces

KO Cup, first round, first leg.

Foxhall Stadium, 7.30pm

By Mike Bacon

IT'S 'a must win' meeting, according to Witches star Danny King, as Ipswich entertain Belle Vue in the knock-out cup at Foxhall Stadium tonight.

The injury-ravaged Suffolk side have yet to taste victory after a disastrous double-header meeting against Lakeside last week, left them with two defeats and minus two riders.

Leigh Lanham and Kozza Smith are set to be out of the saddle for at least a month or more, but King knows it is imperative the Witches hit the ground running tonight.

“There is not much more I can say other than it is a must win meeting,” King said.

“Losing our first two meetings was not a good start. Of course there were circumstances, but we need to move on and start winning.

“And against Belle Vue, we are going to need points to build up a lead, although I think we are capable of winning at their place too.”

King started well with a win and a second place in his first two rides at Foxhall on opening night. But he admits the crashes and waiting around on the night got to him.

“The loss of Leigh and Kozza disrupted up badly and I admit I found it hard to concentrate with all what was going on around me,” King added.

“But those two meetings are out of the way now.”

King, who will also be riding in Poland and Sweden this season, is a key member of the Witches side who entertain Belle Vue tonight, and along with Tobi Kroner will need to add bite to the middle order.

Meanwhile Witches team manager Peter Simmons has said that he is considering re-declaring his line up to cover for injuries to Lanham and Smith.

“We have been caught out in the past trying to cover for injured riders with rider replacement and we want to judge the team's performance against Belle Vue,” Simmons said.

Much like Ipswich, Belle Vue have made many changes throughout the winter months but have a solid look about them.

They too have suffered injury problems losing Billy Forsberg before a wheel was even turned with a broken wrist in a pre-season practise crash.

They have drafted in Henning Bager to cover for his absence, while young reserve Steve Boxall could well be a busy boy.

Not only is he programmed to ride at Foxhall for the Aces tonight, but also at Redcar for his Premier League side Newcastle in a challenge meeting!

Tonight's teams

Ipswich: 1 Jarek Hampel, 2 R/R, 3 Tobi Kroner, 4 Danny King, 5 Piotr Swiderski, 6 Dawid Stachyra, 7 Carl Wilkinson.

Belle Vue: 1 Krysztof Kasprzak, 2 James Wright, 3 Henning Bager, 4 Charlie Gjedde, 5 Ulrich Ostergaard, 6 Steve Boxall, 7 Patrick Hougaard.

Mike.bacon@archant.co.uk

Mike Bacon's blog: www.greenun24.co.uk/speedway

Speedway webchat with Mike, Friday lunchtimes, 12-1. Leave a question, or join in at the time, www.greenun24.co.uk/speedway