AFTER a two-week break, the Somerset Rebels return to home action on Friday (May 15) with the visit of the Berwick Bandits to the Oaktree Arena in a Premier League match.

Somerset’s last appearance at the Oaktree Arena saw them dispatch the high-flying Sheffield Tigers 63-29 - and the Rebels will be looking for more of the same against Berwick as they continue their quest for a top six league finish in order to qualify for the end of season play-offs.

Despite the team’s relative inactivity over the past couple of weeks, Somerset team manager Garry May does not feel that his riders will be suffering any form of ‘race-rustiness’ when the tapes go up on Friday night’s match with Berwick.

He said: “With the number of guest bookings and double-up meetings the boys have been involved in, they have been kept busy enough during this period, so I don’t expect any adverse reaction to the fact that it will have been two weeks since we last rode here at the Oaktree Arena.”

Somerset are expected to track a full complement of riders, though that will depend on Benji Compton’s recovery from the fall he suffered in the Rebels Bank Holiday Monday outing at Rye House - Compton sustained a broken nose and concussion as a consequence of his heat two fall.

Despite their relatively poor start to the season, which has seen Berwick win just two of their opening seven matches, Garry May has warned against any complacency by his riders.

After the conclusion of the main meeting, there will be a second-half match when the Exeter Falcons take on a Youth Development Select quartet over six heats.