Stars boss names team for KO Cup clash

King’s Lynn manager Rob Lyon has declared his riding order for tomorrow’s (Monday) opening home clash with Oxford in the KO Cup.The PSH Environmental Stars boss had plenty of permutations to consider given the closeness of starting averages in his side, with decisions to take in four positions.With the highest average, new signing Ben Cook is locked in at No.1, whilst Chris Harris and Rising Star Ashton Boughen go at Nos. 6 and 7.Lyon has elected to track Czech Republic racer Jan Kvech at No.2, whilst skipper Nicolai Klindt and Niels-Kristian Iversen form the middle-order combination. Richard Lawson therefore slots into the No.5 berth.Said Lyon: “It’s horses for courses really, but for home meetings I feel Richard is pretty strong around King’s Lynn against anyone.“I wanted to pair the two Danes together, so No.2 and No.5 were the two positions to look at. Richard will ride at No.5 on Monday and Jan will be at No.2, and we’ll see how it goes.“We might swap it around a bit away from home because of the way the team is built – not so much here, but certainly away from home we need to maximise our points as much as we can in certain races where we feel we’ve got an advantage. “We know the bigger heats are going to be tougher away from home, whoever is in those positions. I’m not saying our boys can’t do the job, but we do need to maximise as many points as we can in races where we feel we will be stronger. “So we might change things around a little bit away from home, and do that home and away and see how it goes, that’s the theory behind it.”The PSH Environmental Stars stage the first leg of the quarter-final tie at the Adrian Flux Arena, looking to build an advantage to take down to Cowley for the return fixture on Thursday.Hopes are high that the Stars’ team building will lead to a campaign in which they make a serious bid for honours, and the all-round positivity has been clear in the build-up. Ben Cook, Richard Lawson, Chris Harris and youngster Ashton Boughen have all been brought into the team which finished strongly last year, whilst skipper Nicolai Klindt is back from injury to join Jan Kvech and Niels-Kristian Iversen.Harris and Boughen both rode for Oxford last season, and they are the only two alterations from the Spires side which completed the campaign. They have been replaced by one returning rider in Peter Kildemand who is back in British Speedway after a seven-year absence, and one exciting newcomer in Latvian racer Francis Gusts who starts at reserve. Stars boss Rob Lyon admits it’s tough to know exactly what to expect from their opponents – although ex-Lynn rider Maciej Janowski starred at the AFA last year, and Erik Riss also knows the track well – but he’s confident in his own side’s ability to get the job done.Lyon said: “You know what you’re going to get from Magic and Rohan Tungate, they are pretty good around here, and Charles (Wright) is experienced and he’s been around the scene for a long time. “But I feel their newcomers are maybe going to be the difference in the early stages as to how well they perform as a team.“We’ve got to do our job at the end of the day though, and if we do our job then hopefully it will be enough to go through.“We would expect to win at home; it won’t be easy by any stretch I’m sure, especially with it being the first meeting, but I do think we’d be disappointed if we didn’t win this match at home, which would also start building momentum and confidence.“We want to get onto a roll, and hopefully take that into the league.”Oxford track Rohan Tungate and former Stars rider Maciej Janowski as a potentially strong spearhead whilst their new additions for 2025 are Danish former Grand Prix winner Peter Kildemand – who was set to race for Lynn in 2022 before being ruled out by injury – and exciting Latvian youngster Francis Gusts.