Riders hoping to land road win for first time since Week 3

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have been in tough on the road this season. In their six away games played so far, they have only come out on top in two of them.

“Just a change of scenery, you know the crowd noise sometimes causes a little problem,” said Craig Dickenson, head coach, when asked why he believes it’s been so tough this season.

“But you know it’s a big challenge for us to play our best game this week at home or away. The fact that it’s away, I’m happy because we need to get better in our road performance.”

The team has not won an away matchup since Week 3 in Calgary. The Riders are off to face the Redblacks for the second time this season.

Saskatchewan defeated Ottawa when at Mosaic back in August, 26-24, after a 54-yard field goal in the dying seconds of the game.

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But the Riders (6-7) know they will be in tough against the Redblacks (3-10) despite having a win against them under their belt and a better record.

“A big fight [is what I expect]. I mean they’re a desperate team and they’ve got everything to gain, nothing to lose in this game,” said Dickenson. “So we expect their best effort, we expect them to empty the clip so to speak, and give us everything they’ve got. In my opinion we need to play our best game of the year.”

The team will look a lot different this week on defence.

Linebacker Justin Hermand-Reed (Quad) is out, defensive linemen Miles Brown (groin), Nic Dheilly (foot), and Anthony Lanier II (hip), are also all listed as out for the game.

Another defensive lineman, Pete Robertson, (illness) is listed as questionable.

“Well you know we like Cody Roscoe and we like Christian Albright. Both of those guys practiced and we’ll have to decide which way we go. But both those guys are ready,” said Dickenson on who could potentially be activated off the practice roster this week.

On offence, the team will be without their top running back, Jamal Morrow. Morrow did not practice this week and will not suit up due to a knee injury.

Kickoff for Friday’s game is 5:00 p.m. CST.