Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

Anyone making a prediction for Friday's match against Newcastle would need to know which Edinburgh and which Newcastle sides are likely to turn up - not the who, but showing what form.

When it comes to inconsistency the sides are well matched. Both have had their moments but both have also had some dreadful matches. Newcastle looked likely to be one of the sides challenging near the top of the league this season once they had assembled the current side but it hasn't happened for them. In fact they are by no means certain to qualify for the playoffs by finishing in the top eight. So this match is very important to them.

The main reason is the up and down form of their three heat leaders - George Stancl, James Grieves and Josef Franc. Each has had excellent matches round Armadale and there is no doubt that if they all arrived with their 'A' games we would be in big trouble. It rarely happens though and currently Christian Henry is as big a hitter in the side as the more vaunted top three. Manuel Hauzinger too has shown signs of better things to come although not at Armadale where circumstances usually contrive to keep him from making the trip. Although he is listed in the side for Friday's visit we could be excused for taking a 'we'll believe it when we see it' attitude.

At reserve the Diamonds have Jaimie Robertson and Adam McKinna neither of whom are strangers at Armadale. It will be important that we outscore this pair and Sean Stoddart will be looking to provide more support to Derek Sneddon to achieve that.

If we were to dwell on last week's performance against Mildenhall it would be hard to take a positive view of this match but, hopefully, some things will have changed for this match - one of them the track on which the team clearly struggled through some poor gating. Theo Pijper is riding as well as we've ever seen him and will be the key man at the sharp end of the team. We need him to dominate the Diamonds' heat leaders to give a lead to the rest of the side. Henrik should be on his Armadale machine for this match and an improved points haul is a must. Much the same can be said for William Lawson who has not been at his best in recent weeks.

Matthew Wethers always gives 100% effort but even he could make little of the track last week apart from one heat when he got to the front to win convincingly. Matthew has had a busy time since last Friday with matches for Poole in the Elite League. He has done well for a newcomer thrown in at the deep end in the higher league and the experience can do him nothing but good to sharpen his riding in the Premier League.

After last week's match Daniele Tessari could be seen practising round the track and it was good to see his times improve significantly after each race. He looked far more comfortable after that practice so perhaps he will be able to make a telling contribution to the team's total in this match.

One thing is for sure. If we are to get off the bottom of the league we simply must win this match and by a margin which will give us a realistic target to challenge for the bonus point when we head south for the return fixture. With tough home matches against Workington and Glasgow coming up now is the time for the team to pull together as hard as possible to take the points and this match should be looked upon as a springboard to start a winning home run. A good win on Friday night could work wonders by giving the team confidence and belief that the rest of the home season can be completed without dropping any more points.