WITH Somerset’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the Premier League Cup taking a severe blow at Plymouth on Saturday evening, the Rebels will be riding to restore some pride when they face Rye House on Friday (April 25) night at the Oaktree Arena.

The Rebels know that nothing less than all three match points will suffice if they want to keep their slim hopes of progressing beyond the competition's group stages alive.

Somerset team manager Garry May was far from happy with the manner of the team’s defeat at Plymouth, and is expecting far better from his side come Friday’s match against the Rockets.

He said: "To say that I wasn’t happy with Saturday night’s would be an understatement, and I would like to apologise to those fans who made the trip down to support the team.

“We should never have let that sort of lead slip, and whilst I accept that Plymouth closed us right down with that 8-1 tactical race win in heat eight, that should not have been the signal for what happened afterwards.”

"Our reserves rode above themselves and couldn't have done any more, but overall this was not a performance that I would expect, nor willing to accept, from a Somerset team, and although we now have only a slim chance of reaching the semi-finals, I expect the riders to go out and restore some pride when we face Rye House at the Oaktree Arena on Friday night."

Somerset go into the match minus their number one, Nick Morris, who is required to ride for Swindon in the Elite League, which prompts the return to Somerset colours, of Josh Grajczonek as a guest replacement for Morris.

Grajczonek was a member of the Rebels septet that lifted the League and Cup double in 2013, on top of which he was also one half of the duo (along with Jason Doyle), who won the Premier League Pairs Championship for Somerset last season.