THE Sittingbourne Crusaders complete their Conference Shield speedway season with a trio of tough fixtures.

Beginning at unbeaten at home Stoke on Wednesday, Crusaders then face a double header at the Old Gun Site against the top two in the division Scunthorpe and Buxton on Saturday.

Team manager Chris Hunt said: "Stoke is the only club in the Shield who normally operate on a mid-week evening and this has severely affected my team selection with a number of our young riders unable to get time off college to make it up to Staffordshire for the match."

Stoke's recent win at Cleveland has given Sittingbourne renewed hope that they can prise themselves off the bottom of the Shield table. They need at least one win from the three games.

And there’s exciting news of a new recruit joining the Crusaders’ squad to try and secure those points.

Hunt added: "We’re happy to announce that one of the top young talents from the British Under 15s championships, Ben Reade has signed up and will be making his debut up at Stoke."

The visitors to the Old Gun Site home of the Crusaders on Saturday are champions-elect, Scunthorpe and old rivals, the Buxton Hitmen.

Buxton include in their squad the former Wimbledon star, Aussie Scott James, plus some of the brightest young talent in the country in Ben Taylor and Jack Roberts.

It’s Scunthorpe, though, who represent the real cream of third division speedway. Only in their second season of operations, the North Lincs side have swept nearly all before them and are closing in on an unprecedented grand slam of League, Trophy, Cup and Shield.

Last year’s match between Sittingbourne and Scunthorpe was one of the most stormy in the 35-year history of the Kent circuit and after the 64-24 defeat up at the Scorpions three weeks ago, there will be little love lost between the sides in this vital clash for both teams.