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COVENTRY have signed Swedish youngster Mathias Thornblom as a replacement for Henning Bager.The Bees have also added Sheffieds Josef Franc to their squad in place of Jason Bunyan in a doubling-up capacity, and both riders are set to make their debuts against Swindon at Brandon on Friday.Manager Blayne Scroggins said: Mathias is one of a few riders from Scandinavia who we are monitoring. He is young and will need a bit of time to settle, but he is so keen to come over and he has already had a couple of offers this season but chose Coventry.As for Josef in the doubling-up role with Adam, he brings some experience to the team. Josef is a great professional with positive attitude and I am sure he will fit in well.
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POOLE promoter Matt Ford believes there is more to come from his table-topping side with the most vital stage of the season still ahead of them.Krzysztof Kasprzak makes his Pirates return in the home clash with Belle Vue on Wednesday, and Ford says some of their wins so far have been too close for comfort.He said: We haven't built our lead at the top of the table on the back of big victories and at times have had to dig deep, very deep in some instances, to get the resultsThat suggests to me that we have yet to see the very best of the Pirates and I know that throughout the team many of our riders are determined to get out there and impress.(SPEEDWAY 3)
REDCAR promoter Brian Havelock has slammed his sides performance in the Premier League Foursand has called for an improvement against Somerset on Thursday.The Bears scored just six points at Peterborough to go out at the semi-final stage, with Aaron Summers scoring four of those on his own.Havelock said: After our quick exit from the Fours on Sunday I would like to apologise to our loyal travelling fans for the pathetic performance of several of our riders on the day. If you prepare machines and go to do a job then one should be able to undertake a good part of the work. Not our lot. Not up to the task, I'm afraid! We need an instant improvement when we take on such a good side as Somerset on Thursday.(SPEEDWAY 4)
DUDLEY have fixed a new date for the prestigious Golden Hammer individual event, which will now take place on Tuesday July 31.The original staging was washed out last week, but the meeting will now be part of a big week at Monmore Green as Wolverhampton present the British Final the day before.Heathens chairman Nigel Pearson said: We will look at incentives for fans to attend both meetings. We also want to encourage plenty of children as its the start of the school holidays.We were all desperately disappointed to lose the meeting last week, but this means we are ready to go again quickly.
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TUESDAY JULY 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Somerset 7.30, Rye House v Scunthorpe 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Scunthorpe 7.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 18:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30, Poole v Belle Vue 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 19:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Poole 7.30, Peterborough v Wolverhampton 7.30, Swindon v Kings Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Somerset 7.30, Sheffield v Ipswich 7.45
FRIDAY JULY 20:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Swindon 8pm, Lakeside v Wolverhampton 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30, Plymouth v Rye House 7.30, Scunthorpe v Glasgow 7.30, Somerset v Newcastle 7.30
