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FOUR of Great Britain’s top youngsters will be bidding to secure progression to the World Under-21 Final in this weekend’s semis.Robert Lambert and Max Clegg will have the backing of the home crowd at Belle Vue on Saturday, whilst British Under-21 Champion Josh Bates races at German venue Pocking. Adam Ellis is at Pardubice in the Czech Republic on Friday.Only four qualification places are available from each meeting for the Final series, which gets underway at King’s Lynn next month.British Youth boss Neil Vatcher said: “It certainly will be fierce competition for all our boys, but there is every chance that GB will be represented in this years Finals as all four of the competing Brits are in good form, and there’s no reason why any of them can’t achieve their goal of qualifying.“I would certainly appeal to the British Speedway fans to come to Belle Vue on Saturday and get behind the British boys, and as well as Lambert and Clegg, Nathan Greaves and Jack Smith will be waiting in the wings as meeting reserves.“If they get a chance during the evening, both will be determined to put up a case to get a Wild Card selection for the Final being held at King’s Lynn, only a month later.“These are exciting times to be involved in the British Junior scene, and I for one am looking forward to what I hoping will be a very successful weekend.”The Young Lions Management would like to thank Poole promoter Gordon Pairman for his sponsorship of tyres for the four competing British riders, and the BSPA for their continued support.(SPEEDWAY 2)

SCUNTHORPE have swooped for Danish duo Michael Palm Toft and Andreas Lyager in a double change ahead of their local derby with Sheffield on Sunday.Both are former Scorpions riders with Palm Toft, a former title winner with the club in 2012, having become available following Peterborough’s signing of Craig Cook – whilst 18-year-old Lyager raced four matches for Scunthorpe last season. Zdenek Holub and temporary signing Ashley Morris make way in the line-up.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “Michael is a quality performer, I don’t need to tell our fans that, and it’s great to have him back. “He was actually at the Eddie Wright Raceway recently, because he’d been having a few early season mechanical issues and he wanted to come to practice and sort them out. Michael knows our track inside out.“Andreas impressed us here at the end of last season, and we always intended to bring him back – we’d committed to that. The key has been putting together the side so that Carl Wilkinson goes back to reserve.”

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BIRMINGHAM’S 45-39 win over Belle Vue on Wednesday came at a cost with skipper Tom Perry crashing out of the meeting in Heat 15.Perry suffered a broken collarbone as well as shoulder and knee injuries with the re-run of the race not being staged as he required further attention from the paramedic.The Colts took a point from the meeting thanks largely to another stunning display from reserve Dan Bewley, who piled up 17 from seven rides. Danyon Hume led the way for the Brummies with nine.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “It was another battling performance from the lads and we're really pleased to get another win on the board.“Belle Vue had a real trump card at reserve in Dan Bewley; what a special talent he is and what a future ahead of him he's got. “But from our point of view, everyone contributed some important points and it was another great show of character from the team. Naturally we send our best wishes to Tom - but we know he'll bounce back.”Belle Vue co-promoter George Carswell said: “There’s no doubt we gave Birmingham a scare tonight. Those guys are pretty comfortable at Perry Barr so to have pushed them as hard as we did was impressive. They aren’t really used to that.“We lost David [Holt] due to work commitments outside of speedway but the rest of our guys stepped up their game and overall, we can’t complain about the efforts put in by anyone.”

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SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter has called on his side to retain their focus as they host King’s Lynn at the Abbey on Thursday.After seeing their clash with the Stars at the Adrian Flux Arena postponed on Wednesday, Robins will be back on home shale searching for their fifth successive win.They face a full-strength visiting side with former Swindon captain Troy Batchelor making his comeback from injury on his old home circuit.Rossiter said: “We’re not getting carried away with things, but it’s been going well over recent weeks and the riders really are showing what I honestly believe they’re capable of.“It’s all positive but we now have to get back down to it against King’s Lynn. It’s going to be a tough meeting, but we have no fears and feel confident we can get the three points.”Batchelor said: “I was hoping to get started with a home meeting, because obviously I’ve been practicing at King’s Lynn and it’s one of my favourite tracks.“It’s always well prepared and the conditions are good, but unfortunately the weather didn’t allow us to do that. It is what it is, and we’ll go to Swindon now giving it our best shot to try and come away with something.”In the Premier League, Ipswich give a debut to new signing Oliver Greenwood at reserve as they face reigning champions Edinburgh at Foxhall.The Monarchs will be without Erik Riss and use the rider replacement facility following a crash for the German in Monday’s World Championship qualifier.Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “Having a new team member will hopefully give everyone a bit of a shake-up. Ollie has got a bit of Premier League experience already and he has scored points so I'm looking forward to giving him the opportunity. He will get all the support he needs and it's down to him to grab it.“They (Edinburgh) are rebuilding a little bit but they're still a strong side. They have one of my mates at number one in Sam (Masters) who is a very good rider and he is an out-and-out number one so they are still strong.”Meanwhile Sheffield go in search of their third win within the space of a week as they host Rye House at Owlerton.The Tigers defeated Glasgow and Berwick last weekend and go up against a Rockets side whose confidence is also high following their KO cup win over Ipswich.Sheffield star Josh Bates said: “We’ve had two good wins in our last two meetings and started to ride as well as we can. “We are coming into form as a team now, so hopefully we can all keep that going and get another three points against Rye House.”In the League Cup, Redcar race only their second match in the Northern group as they face leaders Workington, who would be strongly-placed with an away win.The Bears secured a last-gasp win over Plymouth in the Premier League last week, whilst the Comets will be at full-strength with Kenneth Hansen and Claus Vissing both available following successful negotiations with their Swedish clubs.Redcar boss Jitendra Duffill said: “This is our first fixture at home in the League Cup and a win is a must if we want to progress. We know we have a tough task at hand but we go into this meeting with a lot of confidence and I'm sure we will see another very close meeting.“We cannot go on giving teams a head start because we will be punished for it if we do. Workington are full of riders who like our circuit and it is important we hit the ground running.”In the National Trophy, Joe Jacobs makes his debut for the Isle of Wight in their Southern group match against Mildenhall.Jacobs faces his former club having signed for the Warriors as a temporary replacement for injured No.1 Benji Compton.He said: “I've been saying that I need to get more track time, and the call from Neil Vatcher at Isle of Wight came at just the right time. I've signed for 28 days as cover for Benji and this fits in really well with my Belle Vue commitments. “I've ridden there a few times before and really like the track. It is big and it is fast with long straights and banked corners and I'm looking forward to getting dialled in! “I've made no secret that I'm looking for a Premier League place alongside Belle Vue and I'm hoping that getting some solid scores for the Warriors will give me some good exposure as well as keeping me race fit.”

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WORKINGTON have moved to fill a blank date in their schedule with the staging of the Cumberland Pairs Championship at Derwent Park on Saturday.The meeting will feature all seven regular Comets and five visiting riders, including Craig Cook, Steve Worrall and West Cumbrian prospect Dan Bewley.Workington owner Laura Morgan said: “We had to do something as this would have meant three blank weekends out of four and supporters can soon get out of the habit of coming to watch us on a Saturday night.“We have been very fortunate to get some sponsorship for the event, which sees each of the six pairings sponsored along with the Grand Final, while the whole event is being supported by our loyal main team sponsors, Thomas Armstrong Limited. “We are very grateful to everyone that has helped us to put the meeting on, and we hope it will prove to be a success with everyone.”(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY MAY 19:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Edinburgh 7.30, Sheffield v Rye House 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Redcar v Workington 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7pm

FRIDAY MAY 20:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Lakeside 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Somerset v Plymouth 7.30INTERMEDIATE CHALLENGE: Edinburgh v Belle Vue Colts 7.30

SATURDAY MAY 21:WORLD UNDER-21 QUALIFIER: Belle Vue 7.30ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Coventry 7.30, Leicester v Wolverhampton 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Plymouth v Somerset 7.15NATIONAL TROPHY: Stoke v Buxton 7pmCUMBERLAND PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP: Workington 7pmSUNDAY MAY 22:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Edinburgh 6pm, Scunthorpe v Sheffield 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Glasgow v Redcar 3pmLEAGUE CUP: Peterborough v Ipswich 5pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Belle Vue 3.30