Express & Star

Wolverhampton Wolves are expecting another close encounter

Wolverhampton boss Peter Adams is anticipating another play-off classic as they prepare to take on Swindon.

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The Parrys International Wolves head to the Abbey Stadium for the first leg of their Premiership semi-final tonight (7.30pm) ahead of the decider at Monmore Green on Monday.

The two clubs have been involved in some thrilling contests over the years, notably the 2009 and 2017 Grand Finals.

And some of their clashes this season have also provided plenty of entertainment.

The Monmore men were denied victory in Wiltshire in August in a last heat decider – and Adams is keen to see a similar battling display from his side on this occasion too to leave their home leg nicely poised.

“We had a good night there last time we were there,” Adams said. “We were gating very well and we were leading the match virtually the whole way.

“But Swindon have got a very powerful finish and they managed to just pip us at the very end by just two points.

“I would certainly take a similar scoreline to that on Thursday though for sure – but it goes without saying that we’re going aiming for the win.

“As we saw a couple of years ago in the Grand Final, and as we’ve already seen this season, they should be two more really close encounters.

“These are the matches that everybody wants to ride in and it’s what you work all year towards.

“We have got a very experienced team and all of our top five riders have ridden in these play-offs previously – in fact all of them have ridden in at least one Grand Final.

“We also don’t have any qualms about our reserve pairing in Luke (Becker) and Dougy (Ryan Douglas) and I’d like to think we might have the upper hand there hopefully.”

Swindon: Jason Doyle, Adam Ellis, Tobiasz Musielak, Rasmus Jensen, Troy Batchelor, Ellis Perks, Claus Vissing.

Wolverhampton: Sam Masters, Kyle Howarth, Rory Schlein, Nick Morris, Jacob Thorssell, Ryan Douglas, Luke Becker.