KING’S Lynn take a six-point lead to Ipswich on Thursday as they bid to book a place in the Premiership KO Cup Final.

The PSH Environmental Stars won 48-42 against the Witches in the first leg and they now face the task of finishing the job at Foxhall against a side who have been exceptionally strong on their own circuit this season.

However, the men from Suffolk suffered a blip in their last home match when they were beaten by Leicester, whilst Lynn themselves put in an encouraging performance on their previous visit back in early May.

They held a six-point lead at the halfway stage before the Witches powered their way to victory, but at that time they did not have the injury problems they are currently managing.

Ipswich again operate rider replacement for Jason Doyle which is placed at No.2, whilst former Witches rider Danyon Hume steps in at reserve as a guest for the injured Dan Thompson.

For the Stars, Ben Cook remains on the sidelines and he is once again replaced by Peter Kildemand. The club have moved ahead to book guests for their two league matches next week, and they are hopeful Cook will be able to make his comeback the week after that.

There is also a change in the Rising Star berth where Ashton Boughen is sidelined with a shoulder injury, leading to a first call-up for Young Stars racer Luke Harrison who has also been impressing in the Championship with Scunthorpe this season.

Manager Rob Lyon said: “Six points is what it is, and I feel we shouldn’t be going to Ipswich to defend, we should go there and try and attack it.

“The aim is certainly to win, the boys will be up for it and hopefully we can pull it off. It would be great for the club to make it through to the Final.

“With Ashton ruled out we’ll take a ‘horses for courses’ approach when we look at guest bookings for the time being.

“But obviously one of the reasons for running an NDT team is that if we see rider progression there, it can lead to opportunities higher up.

“Luke is certainly now around that level where he can start to look at Premiership outings, and we look forward to seeing how he gets on.”

IPSWICH: Emil Sayfutdinov, Jason Doyle r/r, Adam Ellis, Tom Brennan, Danny King, Danyon Hume, Jordan Jenkins.
KING’S LYNN: Richard Lawson, Peter Kildemand, Nicolai Klindt, Chris Harris, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Jan Kvech, Luke Harrison.