Glasgow Tigers captain Tom Brennan believes misfiring Monarchs will be desperate for revenge in the Cab Direct Championship at Ashfield on Friday (tapes-up 7.30pm) after their 51-39 defeat on their own shale.
The highly-talented, 21-year-old warned: “Edinburgh are a great club who are used to winning trophies. It will have really hurt them to lose at home to us. There is absolutely no doubt they will arrive at Ashfield desperate for revenge.”
Swindon-born Brennan (pictured by Taylor Lanning) conceded that Monarchs have had bad luck with injuries to top riders Josh Pickering and Craig Cook and he said: “We must not underestimate them in any way.
“Some of their guys ride Ashfield better than their own track at times and they knocked us out of the Knockout Cup a year ago so they are capable of delivering big performances.”
Brennan, who has also ridden in Poland and was the 2021 British under-21 champion, added: “It was a good win at Armadale but we are not getting carried away. You have to treat every meeting as a fresh start, you can’t take anything for granted.
“We’ve been caught out this season already by Redcar beating us at Ashfield, so we have to learn from that.”
Brennan claimed a paid 14 in the win at Edinburgh while ex-Monarchs and Berwick Bandits star, Claus Vissing, also only dropped one point. Evergreen Chris Harris was outstanding for paid 13.
The skipper believes Glasgow looked more solid again and only Ace Pijper, son of former Glasgow and Edinburgh rider, Theo, didn’t get in the points and Brennan said: “We expect Ace to have off nights, there’s no pressure on him and he’s been brilliant all season.”
The key to success, he feels, is points from second strings and reserves and he added: “We have all got to be consistent if we are going to win things for the fans. It’s easier said than done but Poole have managed to do it for the past two seasons. They are the benchmark and we need to get to their level.”
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