IPSWICH Witches go in search of two more Sky Sports Elite League points as Swindon Robins visit Foxhall tonight in a rare Monday fixture (start 7.30pm).

By Mike Bacon

IPSWICH Witches go in search of two more Sky Sports Elite League points as Swindon Robins visit Foxhall tonight in a rare Monday fixture (start 7.30pm).

Led by Australian star Leigh Adams, the Wiltshire side are one of the Witches' challengers for the play-offs this season.

And the Witches will want to build up a big lead against a side notoriously strong on their big Blunsdon bowl, for when the two sides meet later in the season.

Already Swindon and Ipswich have met home and away in the league, with Swindon winning the bonus point after both sides won their home meetings.

However, Ipswich only won by three points back in March at Foxhall, something skipper Chris Louis admits is not likely to be good enough to get the bonus point in this, the B fixture.

“People just don't go to Swindon and win,” said the skipper, whose recent form has been excellent for the Suffolk side.

“We really must aim to build up a big lead because bonus points are likely to decide the top-four positions.

“As a team we have been consistently in the top four and now the league is getting a bit more realistic, we can see how things lie. But I still think it will go down to the wire with, perhaps, seven teams involved in the play-off chase.”

Certainly Ipswich will expect to be one of those teams and after a morale-boosting win over title favourites Peterborough on Thursday, they go into the second half of the season in good heart.

Pepe Protasiewicz returns to the No.1 position after finishing third in the Polish Golden Helmet on Thursday, while Jan Jaros will again be missing after damaging his wrist at Reading on Monday night - Carl Wilkinson replaces him once more. Wilkinson has done well when he has turned out for Ipswich in the reserve berth and Jaros is clearly finding the Elite League tough. Hardly surprising seeing as he came from Premier League King's Lynn with just a four-point average.

Swindon include Lee Richardson and Seb Ulamek, who are both capable of scoring heavily, while Russian Renat Gafurov could be a trump card for them in reserve.

Tonight's meeting is being screened live on Sky Sports, starting at 7.30pm.

Tonight's teams

Ipswich: 1 P Protasiewicz, 2 K Jansson, 3 R Miskowiak, 4 C Louis, 5 M Loram, 6 D King, 7 C Wilkinson.

Swindon: 1 L Adams, 2 M Korneilussen, 3 A Miedzinski, 4 S Ulamek, 5 L Richardson, 6 S Alden, 7 R Gafurov.