Track Talk: Becker feeling confident ahead of Robins clash
American sensation Luke Becker is adamant that Wolverhampton can build a first leg lead in their play-off semi-final opener.
Monmore Green plays host to the first leg this coming Monday (October 7, 7.30pm) with the decider at The Abbey Stadium on Thursday, October 10 (7.30pm).
The two sides have contested some real classics in recent times with plenty of highs and lows from the 2009 and 2017 Grand Finals.
Peter Adams’ side were denied victory in Wiltshire in August in a last heat decider – and Becker is keen to see a similar battling display on this occasion too to give them a handy lead heading to Wiltshire.
Becker said: “The mentality is to win and gain the largest lead we can.
“Swindon have been strong at home all season but last time we were there we nearly beat them and it came down a last heat decider.
“I’ve only been to Swindon twice and the first time went really good but the last time I struggled, so I’m looking to turn that around and contribute the most that I can to the team.
“We have a really top to bottom strong team and I have no doubt we can gain a lead.
“As everyone saw with Ipswich versus Poole last week, anything is possible and you can’t write off anybody no matter how large the lead is.
“Anything is possible and that is the beauty of the sport.”
WOLVERHAMPTON: Sam Masters, Kyle Howarth, Rory Schlein, Nick Morris, Jacob Thorssell, Ryan Douglas, Luke Becker.
SWINDON: Jason Doyle, Adam Ellis, Tobiasz Musielak, Rasmus Jensen, Troy Batchelor, Ellis Perks, Claus Vissing.
Cradley skipper Max Clegg says his side will ride for pride at Leicester this evening (5.30pm).
The Anchor Logistics Heathens suffered a 53-37 home defeat on Wednesday and face a mammoth task to overturn that deficit in the second leg of their National League play-off semi-final. But Clegg insists he and his team-mates will give it their all.
“We’re going to go there with a fresh mindset and start from 0-0,” Clegg said. “We know we’re more than a few points behind on aggregate but we’ve just got to go out there and give it everything we’ve got.
“We’ll try and score as many points as we can and race for a bit of pride I guess.
“We’ve done so well to qualify and get this far but we don’t want to go out on a low point so hopefully we can put in a good effort for the fans against Leicester even though they’re even stronger at home.”
LEICESTER: Ellis Perks, Luke Ruddick, Joe Thompson, Dan Thompson, Danyon Hume, Josh Embleton, Ryan Terry-Daley.
CRADLEY: Max Clegg, Jack Smith R/R, Tom Spencer, Luke Harris, Danny Halsey, Harry McGurk, James Chattin.
