Triple header for play-off chasing Monarchs

Stellar Monarchs race three home matches at Armadale this week to end their regular season in the Cab Direct Championship and, in the process, hope to clinch sixth place and guarantee a slot in the Championship play-offs.

Current league pace-setters, Poole Pirates, visit on Wednesday (7.30pm) and Monarchs then host a double-header with bottom club Plymouth Gladiators and Birmingham Brummies, who are seventh, on Friday starting at 7pm.

Sixth-placed Monarchs closest play-off rivals are Birmingham and Plymouth and there are several other relevant matches this week before the deadline on Sunday night.

Monarchs’ No 1 Craig Cook (pictured) misses out and Richard Lawson has been booked to guest in Friday’s double-header but the guest for Wednesday has still to be confirmed.

Lasse Fredriksen returns after breaking a wrist and this means that his injury replacement, Max Clegg, drops out.

Bastian Borke will miss Wednesday’s match as his presence is required by his Danish club in what is Denmark’s agreed race night. Jacob Hook stands in.

Alex Harkess, Monarchs’ team manager, said: “We never go into any match at home to do anything other than win the match but, obviously, Poole will be a hard fixture.

“Whatever happens in that, we must win the matches in Friday’s double-header and we are certainly not underestimating our opponents in that one.”

Wednesday and Friday’s matches will both be live streamed for those who cannot attend and details are on www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk.

STELLAR MONARCHS: Guest or rider replacement for Craig Cook, Lasse Fredriksen, Kye Thomson, Paco Castagna, Josh Pickering (captain), Mason Watson (guest), Jacob Hook (guest).

WESSEX MARINE PIRATES: Richard Lawson, Anders Rowe, Ben Cook, Zach Cook, Steve Worrall (captain), Kyle Newman, Joe Thompson.