BELLE VUE boss Mark Lemon vows “write us off at your peril” ahead of a crunch clash at Ipswich.
The ATPI Aces go to Suffolk in the second leg of their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership semi-final tonight (Thursday).
Lemon’s defending champions need to protect a six-point lead from the first leg in Manchester and most fans and pundits are giving them no chance of progressing to the final.
He said: “Everyone is entitled to an opinion on our semi-final chances but luckily opinions aren’t able to race bikes. “We just need to focus on the job in hand. All I know is that we believe in ourselves, so write us off at your peril.
“We have a lead of six points and we’ve been pretty capable of defending leads over the past few years. We’ve proven that.
“We have two of the best three riders in the world leading the side in Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley. Jaimon Lidsey and Zach Cook have been excellent in the middle order, Norick Blodorn likes Ipswich and both our reserves have shown and know they can deliver.
“But words are cheap at this stage of the season. It’s about delivering a play-off performance. All the boys know they have to turn up and produce something very solid.
“It’s sport at the end of the day and anything is possible, I don’t think many people predicted that Sheffield would win at Ipswich last week or that King’s Lynn would draw there in the KO Cup semi-final. They were defending a six-point lead from the first leg as well.
“We have a structure and a process at this club with all the riders. We have a plan for Thursday. How we execute that plan will determine whether we progress in the competition.”
The ATPI Aces have not had much success at Foxhall Heath this season on three previous occasions.
But Lemon insists that means nothing now. He added: “In our league encounter last month we were only six down with three races to go. We let it slip thereafter but it does make a mockery of those who give us no chance.
“It’s not going to be easy, obviously. But the play-offs never are. You need to find something when it counts and team effort is required.
“Ipswich have been the best team in the league this season but it’s not an impossible task as other results have proved.
“But the Witches are under pressure. Most people now think this semi is theirs to lose. They haven’t won the top flight title since 1998 and will want to end that hoodoo.
“We knew how that pressure felt before ending the jinx after 29 years when we won in 2022.
“We are going to Ipswich on Thursday night with the 100 per cent belief we will progress to the final with the opportunity to then defend our league title against either Leicester or Sheffield.”