Workington Comets team manager James Denham has confirmed that he is chasing a permanent replacement for the injured Tate Zischke.
The young Australian has been ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up a back injury on his Belle Vue debut when he crashed-out.
The Comets have had the option of using rider replacement, which they did on Friday at Edinburgh, or using a guest but Denham says they are in pursuit of a new rider.
Denham said: “We are chasing a new rider and we should know more during the week. We have a target in mind but we are not giving out any clues!”
Denham has been full of praise for the way his depleted team battled in adversity to take the aggregate point at Edinburgh on Friday.
The Comets raced at Armadale without Claus Vissing and Celina Liebmann whose travel plans were wrecked by the global IT outage, and Troy Batchelor was then involved in the Heat 4 crash which saw the home side’s Justin Sedgmen withdrawn.
A 17-point haul from captain Craig Cook ensured the visitors took a league point from the meeting after a big win in the reverse fixture, which could be significant in the Cab Direct Championship play-off race.
Denham said: “We needed big performances from our top three on the night, and they all provided that.
“Antti (Vuolas) got a vital heat win at the right time in the match for us, Troy courageously managed to score nine before he was withdrawn, and the master of Armadale – Cookie, was unbelievable.
“That aggregate point could be key in the outcome of our play-off progression, so to clinch it almost felt like a win with what we had on the night.”
Sedgmen is facing at least three weeks out of action after his involvement in that multiple pile-up.
The Australian was brought down in a first-turn incident involving all four riders and was taken to hospital with concussion and knee damage.
He said: “Both the head scan and X-ray on the knee came back all clear, but I’ll have to get an MRI on my knee once the swelling goes down as I can’t put any weight on it.
“I was unconscious for some time and have been advised I’ll be out for three weeks minimum.
“Also thanks to Troy (Batchelor) for taking avoiding action, which ended up hurting him. This goes unnoticed a lot! I’m lucky it was him on my outside.”
Sedgmen’s injury is also a blow for Birmingham in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership, with the Brummies booking their former rider Zach Cook to guest against Sheffield on Monday.
