Panthers out to produce a couple of Shield shocks

The city side hit the road for back-to-back SGB Championship Shield tests with a visit to Ipswich tonight (Thursday, 7.30pm) being followed by a Friday (8pm) showdown at Lakeside Hammers.

And Johnson wants his men to put themselves into a position to advance from the Southern Group of this competition while also honing their talents ahead of the launch of their league programme the following week.

“Having two quick meetings will be good for the lads as the season hasn’t really got going yet,” said Johnson.

“They are two very different but very difficult tracks and I’m sure there won’t be too many people who give us a chance in either meeting

“But we’re going to both places with the intention of winning. Whether or not that is possible, we will see.

“A couple of good results could really set us up nicely in this competition and for the start of our league fixtures next week.

“We don’t tend to go too well at Ipswich as a rule, but we can take plenty of encouragement from winning the KO Cup there at the end of last season.

“They’ve also not been on track as a team yet so it could turn out to be a good time to catch them given we’ve got the home win against Lakeside under our belts.

“It was important for us to start with a victory, but disappointing that we allowed them to cut our lead and get away with a point.

“I’m confident we can cancel that out by picking up a point at their place on Friday night.”

Johnson reckons new number one Scott Nicholls will be a key man at Ipswich tonight. The seven-time British champion has had three spells in Witches colours during his distinguished career.

Nicholls will also be familiar with the ultra-tight turns of the Arena Essex Raceway after riding at the venue during Lakeside’s time in the top flight.

Reserve Tom Bacon could be another key man after scoring well at the Purfleet track for National League side Birmingham last season. He was also on the Hammers’ wanted list for this year.

Johnson added: “Scott knows the Foxhall track well and he can hopefully use his experience to help the other boys.

“He knows Lakeside well too and Tom will be looking forward to that one as well.

“Lakeside were keen to sign him had a team spot not been available to him at Panthers.

“I think Lakeside will suit a few of our other lads as well – people like Michael Palm Toft and Emil Grondal.

“And anyone who has ever seen Ulrich Ostergaard ride at Plymouth will know that he should get on just fine there too.”

Panthers’ home fixture against Ipswich on Easter Sunday was postponed due to a waterlogged East of England Arena track. A new date is still to be confirmed.

TEAMS

Ipswich: 1 Danny King, 2 Michael Haertel, 3 Rory Schlein, 4 Cameron Heeps, 5 Nico Covatti, 6 Connor Mountain, 7 Danyon Hume.

Lakeside: 1 Nick Morris, 2 Ben Morley, 3 Adam Ellis, 4 Kyle Newman, 5 Richard Lawson, 6 Zach Wajtknecht, 7 Alfie Bowtell.

Panthers: 1 Scott Nicholls, 2 Emil Grondal, 3 Nike Lunna, 4 Michael Palm Toft, 5 Ulrich Ostergaard, 6 Tom Bacon, 7 Simon Lambert.

n Panthers rider Michael Palm Toft is on his way to the top flight. The Danish ace has been picked up by SGB Premiership club Leicester as injury cover. Palm Toft steps in as a replacement for the sidelined Josh Bates and will make his debut when Leicester host Poole on Monday.