Sheffield Tigers Speedway bid for Premiership play-off glory against Belle Vue

The Roses rivals meet at Owlerton Stadium in the first leg of the semi-final tomorrow before the return in Manchester seven days later.

And Bates has revealed how the season will go down as a major achievement after everything they have been through in their first season back in top-flight speedway.

It is the first time the club has ever made a play-off at this level – at their first attempt – and a bumper crowd is expected.

Bates, said: “Right from the off in a delayed May start we were fighting fires. We were only allowed a small number of fans to our meetings which meant we were going to lose money as long as those restrictions remained in place. The extra admin involved in online ticketing for my co-promoter Julie Reading was off the scale and I’m very grateful for all the hard work she put, and continues to put, in. It’s unseen and the club owes her a huge debt of gratitude.”

Sheffield head into the meeting on the back of a big win over King’s Lynn on Sunday and a shock away victory over Peterborough last week.

Aussie ace Jack Holder has been in stunning form and admits he would have raced every day leading up to the tie.

“I just want to keep riding,” he said. “Belle Vue are a great team, we’ve had some good meetings with them this season but hopefully we can come out on top.”