Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

The big bonanza weekend of speedway continues tonight with the visit to the Scotwaste Arena of those sparkling Diamonds from Newcastle who will be completing their regular season Premier League fixtures with hopes of hanging on to the sixth and last Play-Off spot.

Monarchs on the other hand have now soared well above Ipswich and Berwick after last night's two emphatic home wins and only Somerset sit a tantalising three points ahead, with all these teams apart from Edinburgh having ridden their scheduled 28 matches.

A look at last night's scoring charts gives a revealing picture of just how much of a team effort it was and how much in form every rider is when you aggregate each rider's two scores:

Max Fricke 25

Justin Sedgmen 21+5

Craig Cook 21+3

Sam Masters 21+1

Steve Worrall 12+5

Aaron Fox 14+1

Derek Sneddon 10+1

Having said that, Newcastle are an altogether different prospect from Redcar or Glasgow. They have not been afraid to make changes during the season, having seen Anton Rosen, Christian Henry, Dan Greenwood and Chris Schramm being replaced at different times.

Tonight they arrive without Lewis Rose and Chris Mills, the former being covered by rider replacement at No.2 and the latter's No.7 spot being filled by Rafal Kanopka, a guest who should certainly know the Armadale track, having ridden at reserve for Redcar last night.

However, among the five of their own riders. the Diamonds certainly have a top four that would be the envy of many Premier League sides plus a more than useful first reserve, and with a good Armadale record, they'll certainly make the Monarchs work for every point.

Danny King is a Great Britain internationalist who was one of the unlucky riders who lost his Elite League place due to Birmingham's mid-season closure but that just means that his Premier League points and payments will be all the more important to him.

Stuart Robson has made several visits to the Scotwaste Arena this season already and has shown he is still easily capable of beating anybody using his accumulated experience from twenty years in the sport, much of it in the Elite League with Coventry and Lakeside.

Lewis Kerr is a former moto-cross rider from Norfolk who has blossomed since joining Newcastle on loan from King's Lynn when he was brought in from the Conference League to take the place of Jason King in 2013 and now boasts an average close to seven points per match.

Ludvig Lindgren from the historic city of Orebro in Sweden first appeared in the UK in the colours of Wolverhampton in 2009. He has since had a short spell with Berwick, doubling up to the Elite League, and was snapped up by Newcastle when the Bandits didn't offer him a team place in 2012.

Simon Nielsen is a 23-year-old rider from Denmark who came to Workington towards the end of 2011 with his Danish teammate Peter Kidemand, replacing one-time home favourite James Wright. Ditched by Sheffield in favour of Ben Wilson earlier this season, Newcastle snapped him up.

All the Diamonds apart from Danny King can take the rider replacement rides, so there will be no easy rides for the blue and gold brigade. But the Diamonds can't be relishing the prospect of racing their final match at Armadale, trying to add to their thirty six league points.

A win for Edinburgh would put them on the same points total as league leaders Somerset who performed their now traditional demolition of any team who visits the Oak Tree Arena. So both teams have a lot to play for which should make for an exciting night of speedway action.

Come along to cheer on your heroes, and please remember the earlier starting time. Tapes up 7.00 sharp.

Likely line-ups:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS; Craig Cook, Justin Sedgmen, Max Fricke, Stevie Worrall, Sam Masters, Aaron Fox, Derek Sneddon (capt.)

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS: Danny King, rider replacement for Lewis Rose, Stuart Robson, Lewis Kerr, Ludvig Lindgren, Simon Nielsen, Rafal Konopka (guest).