The Silver Ski Rockets will be out to maintain an enviable record when they collide with East Anglian rivals Peterborough in the Premier League at Rye House on Saturday night (7pm start).

The Rockets have already completed a home-and-away double over the Panthers in the League Cup – the only defeats the Cambridgeshire side have suffered en route to clinching a place in the national Final – and have also bested the Black Cats in a challenge fixture in Hertfordshire. Can they now make it four in a row?

With Ryan Fisher set to be sidelined for two months with a shoulder injury, Peterborough will operate Rider-Replacement as they continue their search for a new No.1. They have also named Redcar’s Aaron Summers as a guest for World U-21 Finalist Lasse Bjerre, but can still name the likes of Ulrich Ostergaard, former Grand Prix star and European Champion Ales Dryml and the high-flying Lewis Blackbird in their side.

The Rockets, meanwhile, will finally get the chance to parade their chosen seven riders at home since re-declaring their side to include Stefan Nielsen way back in May! Nielsen’s early injury and Mathieu Tresarrieu’s World Long Track and European Grasstrack commitments have prevented all seven Rockets from appearing in Hertfordshire up until now.

Team manager John Sampford will clearly be aiming for a major bounce-back from Rye’s last home result, an embarrassing 34-56 mauling by Workington. “Thankfully, we’ll finally be at full strength with the return of Mathieu, and the rest of the team were really stung by the Workington result. They have been busy in their workshops working on machinery, and they aim to come out fighting.”

Ahead of tomorrow night’s East Anglian clash, the Rockets are at Scunthorpe tonight as they bid to secure their first away match points in the League this season. Says Sampford of the Lincolnshire trip, “As we know, there are no easy matches in this league and Scunthorpe are a good side at home, but I don’t see why we can’t get a result on a bigger track. We have riders like Mathieu, who showed what he can do on the big circuits with paid 12 at Sheffield, who can handle that kind of place.”

Rye House team:

Luke Bowen, Steve Boxall, Jason Bunyan, Jason Garrity, Edward Kennett (captain), Stefan Nielsen, Mathieu Tresarrieu

Peterborough team:

Nicki Barrett, Lewis Blackbird, Ales Dryml, Ryan Fisher R/R, Joe Jacobs, Ulrich Ostergaard (captain), Aaron Summers (guest)