Edinburgh Monarchs skipper Sam Masters set to return against Redcar Bears in KO Cup semi-final

It's shaping up to be quite the final chapter for the Edinburgh Monarchs at Armadale.

Wednesday night's stunning victory at the Oxford Cheetahs guaranteed a top-six finish in the Championship and end-of-season play-off berth.

Now they turn their attentions to the KO Cup semi-final first leg when the Redcar Bears are the visitors to Armadale tonight, a competition they reached the final of last season before losing out to league and cup winners the Poole Pirates.

And, with skipper and No.1 Sam Masters set to return just three weeks after breaking one shoulder and dislocating the other, Monarchs have every reason to be optimistic they can bring the curtain down on Armadale after 26 seasons on a high.

Sam Masters (yellow helmet) is set to return to action tonight against the Redcar Bears. Picture: Jack Cupido.

Australian Masters, 31, said: "It's been a rough couple of weeks. It's been a good season so far so hopefully when I get back on the bike, I can hit the ground running. I may not feel as comfortable as before but hopefully after a few meetings I'll be back into the swing of it. It's part of racing so you have to soldier on.

"The boys have done awesome so the focus is on the KO Cup for now. I want to play my part and scoring points for the club. Redcar have got some riders who like Armadale so we're going to have to hit them hard. But all our new guys are getting really used to the track now too."

The second leg down at the ECCO Arena takes place on Friday, September 2.