Glasgow open their season at Ashfield tomorrow with a visit from Sheffield Tigers, a team who have started the season strongly with all bar Paul Cooper increasing their averages over the opening 5 meetings.

However the majority of these meetings have been on larger tracks.

Sheffield look a little exposed at no 1 with Ricky Ashworth who should find things difficult coming up against Danny Bird and Shane Parker. He only rode Ashfield once last season, at second string, scoring 6+1 from 4. If he appears weak, the same cannot be said of Sheffield number 5 Andre Compton, a rider the opposition fans love to hate and who rides Ashfield well and has been involved in some classic races with Stancl and Parker in the last couple of seasons.

Ben Wilson rode his first ever premier league race guesting for Glasgow at Ashfield and is one of the few big track riders who seems to adapt easily to the circuit. He could well cause quite a bit of damage points wise for Sheffield against weaker opponents although he has had problems with knee inflammation following a knee ligament injury in a challenge meeting at the start of the season. Riding at number 3 will be ex-Tiger Emiliano Sanchez, a rider who will look excellent on the track one visit and look like a novice the next. One of Sheffield's acquisitions from the demise of Hull, he has had a good start to his season.

The final member of Sheffield's middle order is Kyle Legault, a rider who scored his first maximum last Thursday on his home track but who Looked out of control and erratic round Ashfield last season riding at reserve. He has definitely improved over the winter and it will be interesting to see if this improvement will also show on the smaller tracks. If he rides at 4 as expected it could give Glasgow a very strong finishing three heats.

Everyone will remember Paul Cooper's last unfortunate outing at Ashfield, including the rider himself obviously. He is not a rider who tends to relish small tracks and the Glasgow reserves should be too strong for him on their home track.

Benji Compton is more difficult to judge. As a rider in his first full season in the PL you would expect him particularly at this stage to still be finding his feet but he has already recorded his first paid maximum - in Sheffield's home meeting last Thursday. With the exception of his first meeting at Workington he has scored pretty consistently and currently his GSA has gone up by an impressive 2.26.

The Glasgow team will be looking forward to their first home meeting and no doubt be keen to start the way they wish to go on. The only slight concern may be over James Cockle who although is expected to ride was in some discomfort after his nasty spill at Armadale on Friday evening.

The meeting itself should certainly result in a home victory although the margin may not be as comfortable as we would hope due, as much as anything, down to lack of track time for the Glasgow riders so far this season. To have a fighting chance of the bonus, Tigers really have to aim for a winning margin of around 20 points and this may be a struggle.

Our estimate of the current GSA's of the Sheffield team, including tonight's meeting at Berwick, are shown below: -

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