Edinburgh Monarchs v Workington Comets

Who would have believed a few months ago that the Workington team to ride at Armadale this week would include the names of Rusty Harrison and Alan Mogridge? That's the case, however, as the Comets have rung the changes since the start of the year.

Out has gone Paul Thorp to accommodate Rusty Harrison following his dismissal from the Edinburgh ranks. Out has gone Ritchie Hawkins, whose injury from his controversial crash with Danny Bird has proved more serious than at first thought, to be replaced by former Stoke captain Alan Mogridge. And out has gone Lee Derbyshire following a double leg break at Sheffield to be replaced by whatever guest the Comets can recruit on a match to match basis. This week it's Berwick's Danny Warwick who fills the number 6 spot.

Although they have made changes the Comets still look a good side. Their league position doesn't suggest that and they will have a struggle to make the play-offs but it will make them all the more determined to win at a track where victory is not unfamiliar to them. Last time here they won by a point which cost us a place in the semi-finals of the Premier Trophy.

The top two are James Wright and Garry Stead. James has had good meetings at Armadale but has never looked like a world beater while Garry, by far the more impressive on previous visits, seems to be going through a bit of a rough patch at present. Both on top form will provide a strong spearhead for the Comets and the back up is impressive too.

Rusty Harrison is well known to us and, if the track suits him, he could be the visitors' matchwinner. Tomasz Piszcz can be a real handful with his fast starts and aggressive riding although Alan Mogridge, who has announced his retiral at the end of the current campaign, has not had a good season. Alan was recently dropped by Stoke and ended up switching clubs with Paul Thorp but it is fair to say that Armadale has never been one of his most productive tracks.

At reserve Aidan Collins has probably not quite had as good a season as he would have wished but the guest reserve, Danny Warwick, has made excellent progress recently with Berwick. He may not like the smaller tracks but is always a danger on account of his ability to make fast starts.

So what are our prospects? It's time the team started to put some results together and what better match to start with than this one? Theo Pijper should at least match the Comets' big guns while the others are all capable of scoring well as they did in the match against Somerset. It will be interesting to see how Daniele Tessari does after the practice he has had on the track. Some sort of contribution will be necessary if we are to have any hope of winning this match. William Lawson has had a lean time of it recently and we can only hope that he has sorted out his problems to return to the exciting form he showed at the start of the season.

Henrik and Matthew could be our trump cards. We have seen what they can do but we should always remember that we seem to continually expect them to hit well above their averages to hold the team together. Perhaps that expectation is unfair but it shows the faith in their ability that we have and they have repaid that faith on many occasions. Here's hoping Friday night is another of those times. At reserve Derek Sneddon has recovered his sparkling touch and will be a real handful for the visitors but we can only hope that Sean Stoddart can recover his scoring touch to add the support needed from the other reserve berth.

It all adds up to another tough match, likely to be the norm till the end of the season, but if we are to get away from the bottom of the table we really must win this one. The bonus point, for which we have 18 points to pull back, is probably outwith our reach but let's hope we can net the two points for victory.