Edinburgh have made a radical change in the race order for the opening meeting at Armadale on Friday. Robert Eriksson was expected to replace James Grieves at number one to ride with Blair who was tipped to move up to number two leaving a place at reserve for Christian Henry.
As it happens, The reserves and second strings are much as predicted. Blair Scott has moved up to number two. Brian Turner stays at number six and Ross Brady reamins at number four. Christian Henry steps into the vacant palace at number seven.
The changes occur with the heat leaders. The big suprise is Kevin Little taking the number one racejacket to partner Blair Scott. Robert Eriksson moves to number five to ride with the reserves. This leaves Peter Carr to join Ross Brady in what is almost certainly the strongest middle partnership in the Premier League.
Kevin is keen to make an impression this year so maybe the extra responsibiity will bring out the best in him. This could leave Monarchs rather stretched in heat 1 and heat 13 if it does not come off. However if Kevin and Blair manage to hold their own it could prove to be a match-winning strategy. The powerful Carr/Brady partnership should be capable taking heat advantages at home and away.
The change is presumably intended to take pressure off Peter Carr. This may help to improve his scoring record away from home.
Line-up
1. Kevin Little
2. Blair Scott
3. Peter Carr
4. Ross Brady
5. Robert Eriksson
6. Brian Turner
7. Christian Henry
In the opening match, Kevin will find himself directly up against his former teammate James Grieves who is in the Glasgow team despite carrying a foot injury. Grieves is obviously very keen to ride against his old team and face the flack over his move.
Glasgow line-up: 1. James Grieves, 2. Sean Courtney, 3. Richard Juul, Emiliano Sanchez, Aiden Collins, Scott Courtney. Glasgow certainly look capable giving Edinburgh a match on Friday. They have a team that contains a number of Armadale specialists. James Grieves, Les Collins and Richard Juul are all accomplished Armadale performers and Aiden Collins has appeared for Edinburgh a few times. If Emiliano Sanchez can find the quick way around Armadale, it could be very close.