Berwick Jewson Bandits boss is wary of the unknown ahead of Saturday's clash with Workington

The 2024 Bandits are, back row, from left: Lewis Kerr, Jye Etheridge, Drew Kemp, Freddy Hodder. Front: Danyon Hume, Rory Schlein, Bastian Borke. Picture: Keith Hamblin.

Dickson was brought in during the winter to overhaul a club which has spent the last couple of seasons in the bottom reaches of the Championship.

His answer was a pre-Christmas recruitment drive which brought in five new faces alongside returning skipper Rory Schlein and seven-year Bandit Jye Etheridge.

The arrival of English quartet Lewis Kerr, Drew Kemp, Danyon Hume and Freddy Hodder along with 20-year-old Dane Bastian Borke saw the Jewson Bandits light up the radar of speedway pundits and fans on social media as a team that will be going places in 2024.

In contrast, Saturday’s opponents Workington only managed to sign their final rider, former Bandit Claus Vissing, at the weekend and the league newcomers include three riders with no previous British experience.

That includes the ground-breaking German racer Celina Liebermann, who becomes the first woman to be declared in a British team’s starting seven.

The 22-year-old is the reigning female speedway world champion but it is her move into the hitherto totally male domain of professional racing that made her the focus of a blizzard of press and social media attention.

In Vissing, Craig Cook and Troy Batchelor the Comets track a hugely experienced, if occasionally volatile, top three but as far as Dickson is concerned it is the unknown of Liebermann and fellow British speedway first-timers Tate Zischke and Antti Vuolas who pose the biggest threat this weekend.

“In the past we have seen riders come to Shielfield Park, weigh it up and score heavily even though they have never seen it before,” Dickson said.

“In fact, Bastian Borke did exactly that with Edinburgh last season, producing a match-winning performance which was one of the reasons we chased his signature so hard during the winter.

“Having said that, if our riders all do their job then, on the evidence of last weekend’s press and practice, we have the firepower to cope with anyone.

“This weekend is an opportunity to put a marker down and set ourselves up for the BSN Series and Knockout Cup which follows quickly and ultimately a top four league place and becoming the first Berwick team to qualify for the play-off series.”