Sam Masters, a former captain of Edinburgh Monarchs, will lead Oxford Cheetahs against his former club at Armadale on Friday (tapes-up 7.30pm).<\/p>\n
And Monarachs\u2019 team manager, Alex Harkess, warned his men that they face tough opposition in this Cab Direct Championship clash.<\/p>\n
Dan Thompson, Edinburgh\u2019s No 1, is still on the injured list with a broken collar bone. Drew Kemp guests. <\/p>\n
Kemp rode for Berwick in the Championship last year but is this year restricting his UK racing to Leicester in the Premiership. He has a good Armadale record.<\/p>\n
Oxford have problems with Erik Riss, also a former Monarchs\u2019 captain, suffering from illness which has hampered his career badly in recent times. <\/p>\n
Cheetahs will use rider replacement for Riss and also have Alfie Bowtell guesting for Mitch McDiarmid. The battle at reserve will be important with in-form Dayle Wood in the visiting side up against the improving Monarchs\u2019 reserves.<\/p>\n
Harkess said: \u201cWe need everybody at their absolute best. I think we can beat everyone, certainly at home, but the trouble is we don\u2019t get everybody doing their very best all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the record, Monarchs completed a home and away double over Oxford last season and Cheetahs last won at Armadale in 2023.<\/p>\n