BELLE Vue face a tough task when they entertain Sheffield in the return leg of their ''War of the Roses'' inter-track clash on Thursday.

They finished 22 points behind the Yorkshire racecourse after the first leg on Tuesday.

The Gorton track actually held a slight lead after the first three races, with John Walton's Scorched Economy running out a winner.

However, despite another success for the raiding party via the Andy Heyes-trained Quazar, the rest of the night saw them slip further and further into arrears.

At the end of racing Sheffield had acquired 88 points to Belle Vue's 66 and the representatives of the White Rose team were feeling pretty confident.

One likely absentee from their squad for the return is Farloe Cobbler, who won the Gorton Cup at Belle Vue last year, as he is expected to be in action at the Racing Post Festival meeting at Walthamstow.

And Sheffield racing manager Dave Perry is likely to make changes in his squad for the standard races, commenting: ''The four-bend trip at Belle Vue is shorter than our 500m and probably wouldn't suit some of the greyhounds that ran for us on Tuesday, so I will be looking at replacements for them.

''However, Farloe Meadow, who has experience of racing in Manchester, and Frisby Fizz, our stayers' winners on Tuesday will, hopefully, be available for the return leg.''