Lawson, who broke his collarbone in July, steps back into a Monarchs squad who are now favourites to lift the Premier League title after rivals Somerset Rebels were crushed by Monarchs seven days ago and also thrashed by Berwick Bandits.
The Reb
els visit Rye House Rockets tomorrow and also travel to Reading and the Isle of Wight on Monday and Tuesday.
Conceivably they could lose all three fixtures which would virtually guarantee Monarchs would be crowned champions for the second time in six years.
Despite his long stretch of inactivity, Lawson has kept a beady eye on the Premier League averages. Currently in second place behind top-ranked Rye House teenager Tai Woffinden, Lawson is determined to bang in a double-figure haul against the Tigers to help overhaul the English teenager.
Lawson said: "I'm enthusiastic to be back, I've been a bit fed up being just a spectator over the last few weeks. It is my aim to try and close the gap on Tai over the remainder of the season. I know it will be tough because he is a consistent scorer."
Lawson had a try out at Armadale after the Somerset match and confirmed he came through his mini practice session with no problems.
"I felt fine," he said, "Someone told me I did a faster time for my four laps than the heat 15 riders had done.
"That was good to know because I felt I had taken the wrong line on the track. I certainly wasn't fit enough to have ridden the previous week as might have been expected. My arm was still troubling me.
"Also, I would have liked additional practice this week but every track I tried to go to was rained off. This included Wolverhampton and Belle Vue. But I feel fine and eager to be back in the saddle."
Monarchs are still on course to clinch a trophy treble this season. They are through to the KO Cup semi-finals and will clash with Somerset in the final if they get past Workington over two legs later this month.
The Capital side will definitely lift the Premier Trophy, the second leg at Perry Barr will be academic following their mammoth 65-24 first leg win at home last month against Birmingham Brummies.
But it is the prospect of a league winner's medal which excites Lawson, who tipped Monarchs for glory at the start of the campaign.
The Auchterarder ace said: "The league is the big one and it does look as if things are in our favour after Somerset lost twice last weekend. It means they probably won't do as well in their remaining away matches."
Monarchs haven't slipped on any banana skins during Lawson's absence which is remarkable. His absence was probably only felt at Berwick when Monarchs scrambled a draw despite leading by four points with one race left. Said Lawson: "That's because everybody in the team is riding like a heat leader. They have all been scoring, there are no weak links. Even if I don' score anything tonight, it won't matter, we will still win."
Lawson has not been idle these past weeks and has given his bikes a overhaul. "Two of my bikes have been given complete rebuilds," he added. "I want them to be spot-on. I want to make an impact in my first match back. And I don't mean on the fence, but on the track!"
Monarchs will be without Thomas Jonasson tonight, as he has been ordered to ride in the Swedish play-offs for Valsarna. The rider replacement facility will be used to cover his races.
Ever since Glasgow controversially called off Monarchs' visit to Ashfield three weeks ago, claiming their circuit was unraceable due to rain, relations between the two teams have been a little frosty. And Monarchs are playing hard ball over the re-staging date which still hasn't been finalised.
Certainly the Tigers have been a pretty toothless mob this season and Monarchs could run up another hefty score at home. With skipper Shane Parker back in harness for the Tigers following a long injury lay off, tonight's encounter won't lack edge.
Added Lawson: "I'm looking forward to my races against Shane. I know he'll be determined to score a maximum and he probably hasn't forgiven me for ruining his maximum hopes earlier in the season."
Tigers will be without influential Aussie Josh Grajczonek who broke his thumb during Tigers' abandoned meeting against Berwick on Sunday.
Monarchs' own Australian, Matthew Wethers, drops to reserve for September to partner Aaron Summers.
Meanwhile, an Edinburgh Select team will ride in David McAllan's Farewell meeting at Glasgow on Sunday. McAllan has ridden for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Berwick, Newcastle and Workington, but his career ended in 2007 following an accident. The meeting starts at 4.00pm and all proceeds from a special bus being run by Duddingston Private Hire will go into McAllan's fund.
The full article contains 861 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
