West Midlands speedway: Wolves offer Lindgren a testimonial

Wolverhampton Grand Prix star Freddie Lindgren has been awarded a testimonial after a decade of service at Monmore.

"It's good to know I'll be back next year," said Lindgren. "I had a long meeting with Chris Van Straaten and have decided to stay for another year.

"We want to get things a lot better so we can get back to winning ways.

"It's very early stages of planning for my testimonial at the moment. I'll sit down with the committee over the winter and see what we can come up with."

Wolves round off their Elite League campaign with a trip to Belle Vue on Monday night as part of a double header against the Aces, who are due first on the track against Coventry.

Wolves will be without Ty Proctor who has returned to Australia for treatement on a long term hip injury.

Pontus Aspgren is unavailable and will be replaced by club asset Joe Haines, the British Under-21 champion.

COVENTRY

Coventry head to Manchester on Monday night for their final Elite League fixture of the season against Belle Vue (19:00 BST).

A big win would take Bees up into seventh place in the table. But the more realistic aim is simply to stay ahead of Wolves, currently one point behind the Bees, who follow Coventry onto the track in a Kirkmanshulme Lane double header.

Belle Vue were set to use the rider-replacement facility for the injured Patrick Hougaard, but their plans may change as a result of Rory Schlein's crash in the Elite League Riders' Championship.

Schlein has confirmed he will not be racing on Monday so the Aces will require either a guest at number one, or rider-replacement for Schlein and a guest lower down the order.

DUDLEY

Dudley skipper Adam Roynon has been passed fit for Tuesday night's National League play-off final first leg against Mildenhall.

After suffering injuries to his back in a crash at Swindon in late August, his fitness has been a concern.

But the best rider in the National League has declared himself fit and ready to return for the Monmore double header.

Following the conclusion of the first meeting, the two teams are then scheduled to line up again in the second leg of the Knockout Cup Final.

The two sides are then booked to meet again at West Row in Wednesday night in the National League title decider.

Heathens coach Jan O Pedersen, concerned about the gap in fixtures which he says caught them on the hop in the semi-final against Stoke almost a fortnight ago, has called a behind-closed-doors practice session ahead of Tuesday night's National League Grand Final at Monmore.

"It was obvious against Stoke that we paid the price for a lack of meetings," said the 1991 world champion. "We need to practise and hit the ground running on what is a massive night on Tuesday.

"The priority is for a handy lead, then we can defend it the following night at Mildenhall."

STOKE

Stoke Potters were brushed aside 54-37 in their weather-disrupted National Trophy meeting at Mildenhall on Saturday night.

Stoke had to wait until heat seven before they provided a heat winner in skipper Tony Atkin.

The tie had been postponed on Friday night, having originally been called off at West Row last Sunday when the Potters were trailing 24-6.

The Potters' National Trophy meeting against the Isle of Wight has been rearranged for Sunday, 28 October (15:00 BST).

Mildenhall are now favourites to lift the National Trophy after their win at Loomer Road, which also featured Stefan Nielsen taking the Bronze Helmet against home man Ben Reade.