TAI Woffinden has paid tribute to opening night opponents Oxford and says it’s a pleasure to have them back in British Speedway.

The triple World Champion top scored for Sheffield on Thursday night with 12 points on his first visit to Cowley in 17 years.

Oxford returned to the sport in 2022 and this year entered a team into the top flight.

And whilst the Tru7 Group Tigers were on the wrong end of a 47-43 scoreline, Woffinden was keen to praise the set up at Sandy Lane.

“This was the first time I’ve been here since 2007 and I want to say a massive congratulations to anyone involved with Oxford Speedway,” Woffinden said.

“The people running it, the sponsors behind it and all the fans for coming week in week out because without fans we all know that speedway wouldn’t be possible.

“The track is unbelievable, it’s such a nice track to ride and it was great to be back here - long may it continue.”

Despite their four point defeat, Woffinden believes there are plenty of reasons for the Tigers to be upbeat, particularly with the fixture being their first opportunity to gain track time together in 2024.

“This was our press day,” Woffinden joked.

“When Bomber (Chris Harris) went up the inside of Picko (Josh Pickering), Picko pulled a real hard locker and Chris (Holder) kind of laid it down because he didn’t know if Picko was going to crash or not, so that was unfortunate.

“I had a DNF when I was in front when my bike broke down, an electrical issue, again not ideal.

“We were pretty close in the end though so I’m quite confident we’ll turn them over pretty easily at Sheffield.”

The two sides meet in the first home meeting of the season at Owlerton this Thursday (March 28, 7.30).

Before that though, Sheffield travel to Birmingham on Monday (March 25, 7.30.)