Dane wary of an Ipswich backlash in derby clash

King’s Lynn star Niels-Kristian Iversen says his side will need to be wary of an Ipswich backlash in Monday’s local derby at the Adrian Flux Arena.It’s less than a fortnight since the Stars finally broke their long win drought against their local rivals with a 48-42 victory in the first leg of the KO Cup semi-final.That tie remains on hold after the second leg at Foxhall fell victim to the weather, with a re-staging date set of July 17, but in the meantime the sides now clash in the Premiership next week.Lynn head into Monday’s meeting buoyed by a 52-38 victory at Oxford on Thursday night.The main question surrounds the make-up of the Ipswich team, as their top man Jason Doyle hopes to make his latest comeback from hip damage in the next two rounds of the Grand Prix series in Manchester this weekend.Belle Vue are staging back-to-back events tonight (Friday) and tomorrow which will be a major test for the former World Champion who has suffered two serious crashes in recent weeks.The Witches’ other key absentee at the moment is youngster Dan Thompson, who is out with a broken wrist and is not expected to return until later this month. But Iversen has stressed the difficulty of the fixture regardless of the make-up of their opponents with the likes of Emil Sayfutdinov, Danny King and Tom Brennan all regular high scorers around the AFA. Iversen said: “It’s always tough to beat Ipswich, they are a good side even though they’re having a few problems with injuries at the moment.“Maybe Doyle will be back on Monday, we will see, and if he is that will definitely make them stronger.“In my opinion they have a quality team all the way through and it’s one of these meetings where we’ll have to really work hard and do our best to be able to win. “I want to beat all of them of course, but there’s no doubt that Doyle will improve their team, he’s a top rider. It’s a big meeting for us and a fresh day, and we’ll see how we go when we get there.”Stars, who then head off into tough away matches at Sheffield and Belle Vue, are still awaiting the latest news on Ben Cook whose targeted return date of next Monday may have to be put back. Meanwhile, boss Rob Lyon says Young Stars racers Jody Scott and Luke Harrison will both get opportunities over the coming weeks as the club looks for the best way to cover the absence of Ashton Boughen.One possible option had they been looking to make a more long-term signing would have been British Under-21 Champion Sam Hagon, but Birmingham has now picked him up after Jason Edwards suffered shoulder damage in his crash at the AFA earlier this week. Lyon said: “I thought Luke acquitted himself well on Monday (against Birmingham), it’s just really the starts which are the big difference at this level.“We will be using both Luke and Jody over the next few meetings, and Jody will be in on Monday against Ipswich.”We are running a team in the National Development Trophy and it makes sense to give riders from that team the opportunity, that’s what it’s all about.”