7:00am Thursday 9th September 2010
By Anthony Marshall
RONNIE Russell claims his Robins side “hold the key” to the Elite League Play-Off places, and insists they will not give opponents Lakeside an easy ride to a top-four finish tonight.
The Hammers currently sit in the final play-off spot and can secure that with an away win at the Abbey Stadium, but defeat would leave them vulnerable to Alun Rossiter’s Coventry, who are at home to Poole.
While at one point it seemed as though the play-offs would be decided on a 31-meeting placings, the British Speedway Promoters' Association (BSPA) have stuck by their original plan of a cut-off date of this evening.
And that leads to a thrilling conclusion to the chase at Blunsdon, even though Swindon have nothing to ride for except pride. But team boss Russell explained he is ready to potentially ruin the Lakeside party with a home victory.
“It looks like we hold the key to who makes the play-offs,” he told the Advertiser.
“If Coventry win at home to Poole, Lakeside will need a point at our place to make sure they make the play-offs.
“Lakeside’s boys love riding here. They are our bogey team anyway but they will come here with more motivation than ever and will be desperately looking for the point they need.
“But we won’t stand aside for anybody and will be thinking about our own performance rather than what other teams can do.
“For us it matters for pride and is important that we contribute 15 quality heats of speedway that the supporters will enjoy.
“We’ve had a pretty good run over the last few weeks where we have picked up points. Unfortunately so have others around us, so we haven’t moved anywhere, but we want to be moving in the right direction.
“We are riding for pride and our riders will be riding for their place in next year’s team.”
Robins will be boosted by Simon Stead’s recovery from illness this evening. The 27-year-old was expected to ride in Monday night’s eventually-postponed clash against Wolves despite being under the weather, but Stead will be firing on all cylinders tonight.
“He is fine now, and it is testament to Simon that he has been willing to ride for us while clearly not well at all,” explained Russell.
“When he rode for us the other week (while ill) his dad said to me he didn’t know how Simon was out there, but that sums him up.
“He has a passion for riding for this club, is enjoying his racing and has built up a real relationship with the fans.”
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