ON paper Lakeside Hammers look to be facing their toughest few days of the Elite League season from tonight.

Having beaten Swindon Robins 53-42 at the Arena-Rssex Raceway last Friday, Hammers visit the Wiltshire club this evening.

Many people have backed Robins as favourites for the title this season and Hammers will perhaps do well to keep the home club’s advantage within the six-point margin which would stop them collecting an extra point.

The Swindon club race on the largest track in the country and, as Lakeside’s is the smallest, Hammers’ riders sometimes find it hard adapting to the massive switch.

Although Monday’s hosts Wolverhampton currently top the league, Lakeside will fancy their chances of success more there than in Wiltshire.

Their hopes in both would certainly be boosted if they can field star man Joonas Kylmakorpi for the first time in nearly six weeks after he broke his elbow in a crash at Peterborough.

He began his comeback on Tuesday night by picking up six points for his Swedish club and Lakeside officials are waiting to check that he is suffering no reaction from that return before naming their starting line-up.

If Kylmakorpi is still out they will use rider replacement.

If he does not return this evening, Kylmakorpi would definitely want to be back at Wolverhampton, where Hammers won twice last season, on Monday as the next fixture after that is a week tonight at Peterborough, where he suffered his injury.

A return there would be painful for the star man whose absence has been keenly felt by the Purfleet side.