Speedway: Glasgow Tigers boss sounds title cry as Joe Screen & James Grieves return to face Edinburgh

Aug 4 2011 By Fraser Wilson

Tigers big guns Joe Screen and James Grieves will return from illness in time for Friday's trip to Armadale

TIGERS chief Stewart Dickson insists the timely return of Joe Screen and James Grieves will keep Glasgow's title hopes on track when they travel to arch rivals Edinburgh on Friday.

The Ashfield side has been rocked by the loss of Aussie ace Christian Henry, who has been ruled out for at least a fortnight.

Henry has broken a bone in his back and is set to miss up to four meetings at a pivotal stage of the season.

His absence is a major blow for the title-chasing Tigers but Dickson,whose patched-up side beat Edinburgh at home on Sunday, is confident the return of veteran duo Screen and Grieves from illness will give the team every chance of a rare win at Armadale.

He said: "Edinburgh is always a tough place to go but with Joe and James back in the team I'm confident we can pick up a result. One league point is the minimum I'm targeting from this match.

"Joe scored 14 there at the start of the season and James knows the track well from his time as an Edinburgh rider.

"Nick Morris is on fire at the moment and both Michal Rajkowski and Theo Pijper can handle that track so we are in good shape heading through there."

But Dickson admits Sunday's 58-32 win over the Monarchs was a surprise following his team's double away defeat at Scunthorpe and Workington just days earlier.

With Screen, Grieves and Henry missing due to illness and injury, Glasgow called up Berwick's Josef Franc and Birmingham's Claus Vissing as replacements and were rewarded as the duo scored eight and 15 points respectively.

Dickson said: "I was worried ahead of Sunday's meeting as you never know how well guest riders will perform.

"Edinburgh must have really fancied their chances of turning us over for the first time at Ashfield this season with the problems we faced.

"It was a potential banana skin but we spoke about it before the meeting and came flying out the traps and were eight points ahead after four races.

"Nick Morris was star of the show with an incredible 18 points but every rider did the business to keep us on course for the title." Glasgow are still in the driving seat with 18 meetings remaining of the Premier League season.

Andwitha100percenthomerecord still intact Dickson, whose side take on Leicester on Sunday for the Premier League Four Team Championship, believes two or three wins on the road could be enough to see his side over the finish line come October.

He said: "Away wins are becoming something of a rarity in this league.

"As long as we keep winning at home then it means our nearest challengers Workington, Sheffield and Somerset will have to win three each on their travels to topple us.

"That's a big ask and I'm pretty confident we have another two or three away wins left in us."