Karlsson breaks the habit of a lifetime

The Monmore men defend a 16-point lead against Lakeside tonight and the captain, while ruled out by injury, will be at the Arena circuit to roar on his team.

Karlsson said: "I don't tend to go to meetings when I can't ride. But obviously I want to see if I can assist. I'll see if I can make a small difference."

The Swede is ruled out by the broken collarbone suffered in the first leg, but was flying into Britain today to see specialist Brian Simpson at Ipswich in a bid to ride in the final, should Wolves qualify.

He said: "I guess I'll know more after I've been there. When I've finished, I'll go straight to Arena.

"It feels OK, to be honest, when you think it was broken less than a week ago."

Wolves' advantage tonight will be stretched by a further four points awarded at the conclusion of the tie, in recognition of their second-place finish in the Elite League table.

The two-legged final is on October 5 and 12, a tight time frame for Karlsson to return. But the captain, one of only two survivors with Adam Skornicki from Wolves' last title success in 2002, remains optimistic and would dearly love another tilt at glory.

He said: "You've got to be fit to ride. I'm pretty hopeful. It means a lot, it's a great opportunity to get another medal.

"I would like to be part of it. I'm going to try my best to do that. "

A big screen will be installed on the fourth bend, to show races from the other semi-final between Swindon and Coventry.

Lakeside: 1 Lee Richardson, 2 Joonas Kylmakorpi, 3 Adam Shields, 4 Jonas Davidsson, 5 Kauko Nieminen, 6 Aaron Summers or Andrew Silver, 7 Stuart Robson.

Wolves: 1 Fredrik Lindgren, 2 Nicolai Klindt, 3 rider-replacement for Peter Karlsson, 4 Tai Woffinden, 5 Adam Skornicki, 6 Chris Kerr, 7 Ty Proctor.