GLASGOW boss Cami Brown vows his side will come out “all guns blazing” in a bid to reach a third Grand Final in five years, live on BSN.
The Allied Vehicles Tigers face Edinburgh in the Cab Direct Championship play-off semi-final, second leg at Ashfield tonight (Friday).
Brown’s side need to overturn a 14-point deficit to face either Redcar or Poole in the showpiece decider next month.
He said: “This is when it really counts. Fixtures don’t get much bigger than a Cab Direct Championship play-off semi-final against the Monarchs.
“It’s fair to say, since finishing top of the league, it’s not really gone to plan at all.
“But this is when we have to get it right, simple as that.
“The Monarchs have been an excellent side all season after some very shrewd signings. This is such a difficult meeting to call.
“So much luck comes into play at this point. It was such a setback to race in the first leg at Armadale without Dan Thompson and Villads Nagel.
“Now the Monarchs are without Paco (Castagna) after he broke his shoulder last weekend.
“It is vital for us that we can go into this clash with a full strength side and Villads back in the team. Hopefully that is the case.
“We really haven’t had much luck with our guests over the past couple of months. We always choose the strongest possible rider within the average, but it’s just not worked out at all which is so frustrating.
“We will be all guns blazing. We have to, and the boys will, pull out all the stops.
We have managed to hit 53 and 58 on the last two occasions here against the Monarchs. Those results mean nothing now but I’m confident we can do it again to race against either Redcar or Poole in the decider.
“That would potentially be our third Grand Final in five years and that could be a decent achievement. But, ultimately, only the winners are remembered.
“We really can’t afford any passengers. All the boys will be fired-up and when it comes to the crunch, they’ll all need to win their own personal battles.”
Monarchs will use rider replacement to cover for the loss of Castagna.
Manager Alex Harkess said: “It’s a big disappointment to lose Paco at this stage, but injuries are part of speedway. “We wish him the very best in his recovery, and now it’s up to the rest of the team to dig deep and finish the job.”
Glasgow: Chris Harris, Villads Nagel, Dan Thompson, Leon Flint, Kyle Howarth, Freddy Hodder, Max Perry.
Edinburgh: Victor Palovaara, Paco castagna R/R, Justin Sedgmen, Michael Palm Toft, Kye Thomson, Jonatan Grahn, Jordy Loftus.
Stream live from 7pm here
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.