Speedway: Ipswich Witches without Erik Riss ahead of Premiership clash against Sheffield
The German rider is being treated for a viral infection
Ipswich Witches are targeting a return to winning ways in speedway's Premiership later, as they welcome Sheffield Tigers to Foxhall.
Witches were defeated 41-49 last time out at home in the top flight, but are coming into this fixture off the back of a 47-43 win against Leicester in the Knockout Cup.
They are still without Erik Riss, who is still undergoing treatment for a viral infection, so rider replacement will operate in his absence.
Speaking ahead of the fixture, Witches manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “It is certainly going to be another tough night for us at Foxhall and we will certainly need to perform better than we did last week.
"The morale is straight back up after our performance at Leicester and we have stepped it up a gear now. We need to make sure we are at that level again on Thursday if we want to win the meeting.
“We are monitoring the situation daily with Erik at the moment and were hopeful to have him back on Thursday, but it is a day-by-day thing. We don’t know how long he will take to recover but he has shown improvement and we are hopeful he will be back with us soon.
“Sheffield have put together another very good team, like they have done the past two seasons in the Premiership.
"They will be one of the favourites for the title again alongside Belle Vue probably and it will be a tough test for us.
"They will come full of confidence having started the season brilliantly and will come to our place going all out to get the win so we will have to be on top form if we want to win the meeting.”