INJURY-ravaged Ipswich have been dealt another blow as they prepare for tonight’s trip to Birmingham.
Already without big guns Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov they will now be without Australian Keynan Rew who has not recovered from his crash against Belle Vue at Foxhall on Thursday and Adam Ellis continues to suffer the after-effects of a concussion picked up against Leicester.
Former Witches Cameron Heeps and Troy Batchelor guest along with Leicester’s Ryan Douglas and Sam Masters.
Birmingham, who operate rider replacement for Piotr Pawlicki after the Pole’s decision to end his British season early, will be looking to cash in on the Witches’ misfortune in their final home meeting of the season.
They have already beaten Ipswich at Perry Barr in the league this season and lost a cup tie between the sides by just two points and have pushed both Leicester and King’s Lynn right to the death in their previous two home clashes.
They will be keeping their fingers crossed that Tom Brennan makes it down the M6 after guesting for Sheffield at Belle Vue in the lunchtime match.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins admitted: “We head to Birmingham with a side full of guests. It is not something we want to be doing but it is the situation we are in at the moment.
“Adam is still suffering some effects from his knock to the head last week so Troy will guest again. I thought he did a decent job against Sheffield and we know what he is all about.
“We have got Birmingham home and away this week and are focused on getting two wins to get back into winning ways before the cup final.
“Emil is at home recovering and is hopeful of trying to get back for the play-offs in Poland and England. Whether that proves to be too difficult a task or not we will know more about in the coming weeks.”
Birmingham: Fredrik Lindgren, R/R for Piotr Pawlicki, Wiktor Lampart, Zach Cook, Tom Brennan, Michael Palm Toft, Leon Flint (RS).
Ipswich: Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Sam Masters, Troy Batchelor, Danny King, Cameron Heeps, Jordan Jenkins.
Words by George Dodds.
Images by Taylor Lanning.