KENNY McKinna captains Scotland against England Under-21 at Shawfield next month and his fervent hope is that track technicians can get their act together.

The respected racer, in his twentieth and last season in speedway, was shocked at the condition of the track during last Sunday's KO Cup meeting between his club side Edinburgh Ziebart Monarchs, the cup holders, and Glasgow Qfm Tigers.

Sadly, Sunday's problems, and the reaction of Glasgow fans, have caused an unhealthy undercurrent between bosses of Scotland's two top speedway clubs and left a bad taste among Edinburgh supporters, many of whom say they are unlikely to make a return trip along the M8, denting Tigers' box-office.

Recently, Brian Sands, Tigers' new promoter, praised the Edinburgh club's bosses for their assistance in the early stages of the development of the new team, and Monarchs fans were relishing the prospect of healthy competition between the old rivals.

McKinna, one of the most experienced riders on the circuit, said: ''There was a lot of ill-feeling on Sunday and the track was diabolical. There was 150 yards between the bikes in the first races and after 10 to 15 minutes of re-grading there was five inches. That, surely, proves our point.

''Speedway is about racing and passing and that is not going to happen if they prepare the track in the way they did. The weather was perfect and there were no excuses.''

He added: ''There's no problem between the riders or any animosity in the pits but there's a tremendous amount of experience in the Edinburgh side and we felt the track was in disgusting condition.''