Captain Sneddon mindful of Racers' threat in semi

"WE must ride with our heads" is the advice skipper Derek Sneddon has given his Edinburgh Monarchs teammates ahead of their vital Premier Trophy semi-final, second leg clash against Reading Racers at Smallmead Stadium tonight.

Monarchs are pretty warm favourites to reach the final where they would meet Birmingham Brummies, a side they defeated in the Premier League at Perry Barr last Wednesday.

Providing the Capital outfit can successfully defend their hefty 22-point lead gained at Armadale, they will surely feel they are within touching distance of collecting their first major silverware of the season. However Sneddon is urging caution, pointing out: "Reading are a very useful side with plenty of good riders in their ranks. We must ride with our heads and make sure we do nothing silly. The tie is ours to lose."

Although Monarchs haven't ridden the Berkshire circuit for a couple of years, Californian Ryan Fisher doesn't think this is a disadvantage. Said Fisher: "I think we did the hard work at Armadale and Reading have it all to do. We are going down to win the match, this has been our attitude all season and there is no reason to change it now. It is a big match for the whole side knowing we can reach our first final this year, and I think we'll do it. Reading will have to do all the chasing." And Racers' No.1 Ulrich Ostergaard, who blew one of his motors during the Lothian Arena encounter, concedes it will take a mammoth effort to stop Monarchs. "Edinburgh are in such good form right now, it is going to be very difficult for us.

"We won the last two heats up at Armadale and that stopped Edinburgh scoring sixty. This has given us a chance, albeit a small chance. But we will go out and try our best. Speedway can be a funny sport sometimes, so you never know what might happen."

Racers team manager Tim Sugar added: "The Edinburgh leg was very disappointing for us, and it's fair to say things conspired against us to a degree. All we can do is go out and try and hit Monarchs hard early on. If we can grab a few 5-1s in the first half, you never know what might happen."

Monarchs are at full strength with Swede Thomas Jonasson back in the ranks after missing Friday's 56-33 home win over Sheffield due to a Polish league engagement.