Edinburgh Monarchs v Stoke Potters

Victories at Armadale for the Stoke Potters are as rare as hens' teeth. They are the next visitors hopefully to a sunny Armadale rather than the rain swept bayou of West Lothian confounding the weather gods. Can they end their long losing run against a Monarchs side a lot more vulnerable than they were a few weeks ago?

What a difference a year makes. Gone from the Edinburgh team on the occasion of the last Stoke visit on 4 July last year are William Lawson, Andrew Tully and Derek Sneddon while the Potters have parted company with Mark Burrows, Ben Barker, Andrew Moore and Barrie Evans. They will also be without Lee Complin this time just like last year when George Stancl guested for them at number 1. This time they will be using Rider Replacement (R/R) for him at number 2 since he has not yet recovered from the injury he suffered to his wrist last week.

The survivors in the Potters side are Jesper Kristiansen and Klaus Jakobsen, the latter now promoted to the main body of the team from his time at reserve last year. Their team is spearheaded this year by Jason Bunyan who partners the R/R nominee while the two Danes, Jakobsen and Kristiansen, form the middle pairing. Robert Ksiezak fills the number 5 position after signing for the Potters following his departure from Birmingham and Phil Morris' departure from Stoke. The rider currently in a rich vein of form for the Staffordshire side is Tom P Madsen. He is at reserve and has enjoyed a number of excellent nights at Armadale in the past. Completing the side in the other reserve berth is Craig Branney having joined the Potters after he was the casualty of the recent restructuring of the Newcastle side as they continued their attempt to go all Danish.

With the recent changes to the team and the absence of Andrew Tull there are likely to be few, if any, easy matches for the Monarchs home or away for the rest of the season as last week's humdinger against Sheffield last Friday witnessed. Stoke don't look the most daunting prospect among the teams due at Armadale over the coming weeks so a huge effort is needed to make sure that all three points stay at home.

The main threat must come from Jason Bunyan who moved north after the disappearance of the Isle of Wight from the Premier League this year. Jason has been an excellent signing for the Potters and scores as well as his indifferent gating allows. The two Danes didn't exactly shine last year but may be a different proposition this year. Kristiansen scored a solitary gift point after Andrew had fallen while Jakobsen manged 7 points taking six rides to amass that amount. His only 'genuine' points however came from two victories over Aaron Summers who had a poor night.

Robert Ksiezak relies heavily on his gating and hasn't really impressed at the Dale in recent times. It's at reserve that the Potters will hope to score well. Both Madsen and Branney are experienced reserves and could pose a threat. I've a feeling though that Aaron will have a considerably better meeting and score a lot more than the 3+1 he managed last year especially after his paid 17 at King's Lynn this week.

So what of the Monarchs side with newcomers Max Dilger and now Kevin Woelbert in the team? A lot will depend on how they take to the track this week. It's asking a lot for them both to score the sort of points the riders they replace (Thomas H Jonasson and Andrew Tully) but hopefully they can get their set-ups right for future matches and score a few points in the process.

We also have to hope that Ryan Fisher has recovered from concussion following his crashes at Glasgow last Sunday and King's Lynn on Wednesday night. We really need him to be at his best and for Matthew, Michal and Aaron also to hit top form to compensate for the inexperience of our two new German stars.

The teams are likely to be: Edinburgh: Ryan Fisher, Kevin Woelbert, Max Dilger, Matthew Wethers, Michal Rajkowski, Aaron Summers and Byron Bekker.

Stoke: Jason Bunyan, R/R for Lee Complin, Klaus Jakobsen, Jesper Kristiansen, Robert Ksiezak, Craig Branney and Tom P Madsen.