ALUN Rossiter has admitted tonight’s clash with Poole is a vital one both on the track and for the club as a business.

When the fixtures were being put together over the winter the match was specifically scheduled for this evening in order to tap into the wave of supporters making a long weekend out of Saturday’s British GP, travelling to Cardiff for a long weekend.

The plan was the same last season, only for the match to be rained off just half an hour before the scheduled start with queues forming in the car park, and Rossiter is hopeful of avoiding a repeat tonight.

“As a business it’s vital for us because with a stop-start season we really do need the cash to inject into the club and big gates certainly do help,” he said.

“Speedway is a tough business but big crowds and big nights can make things easier which is why we have put this on this day. Hopefully there will be a lot of fans making a long weekend out of the Grand Prix which would be a real boost to us.

“Last year we fell victim to the weather, which was really tough for us but hopefully we can avoid that this year and it can be a really big night for the club.”

On the track Rossiter is expecting a thorough examination from the Elite League champions, with Vaclav Milik named as the dangerman.

“It’s going to be tough because a lot of their riders go really well around our place,” he said.

“Milik’s improving all the time and I can really see him being a dangerman.

“He attacks the track really well and gets on with it, although people look a little bit scarey, but he’s going to be a very good rider.

“On top of that you have riders like Janowksi, Pawlicki, Grazcjonek and Darcy who are all very good around the Abbey so it’s going to be a tough one.

“They lost at Belle Vue on Monday but I’m sure they will feel a lot better about coming to us than they would at Belle Vue, so they’ll have a lot of confidence.”