NEWCASTLE Diamonds travel south to face Plymouth Devils tonight, with their hosts unexpectedly back to full strength.
Number one Premier League rider Ben Barker has shrugged off serious injury to face the Diamonds.
At one stage it looked like he would be out for the rest of the season after he was withdrawn from heat one of Devils’ meeting with Sheffield Tigers on September 30.
A metal rod inserted in his leg to reinforce an earlier injury came loose and was threatening to pierce Barker’s skin.
Medical staff made it clear to Barker it would not be advisable to continue and his promoter, Mike Bowen, had feared even worse, thinking the rod could have shattered Barkers’ leg.
Bowen is naturally thrilled at his comeback against Newcastle, saying: “Obviously, when Ben is on the track, he’s worth 12-15 points to us and he’s virtually unbeatable at home.
“It’s really great news to get him back so soon and gives us the edge against the Diamonds, who we have already beaten here once so far and are definitely up for the double.”
Jesper Kristiansen, however, injured in a bizarre accident against Ipswich last Friday, is definitely out for the rest of the season.
Kristiansen was flung from his bike after its throttle stuck open and landed heavily on his shoulder.
Newcastle will be without young Kyle Newman who suffered a horrendous crash last Sunday against Newport, resulting in emergency surgery that night to repair damage in his left leg and will be out for the last few weeks of the season.
Newcastle’s team manager George English said: “Kyle’s injury thankfully had turned out not as bad as we first feared on the track last week.
“But we will have to finish the season using the rider replacement rule to cover his rides, which is far from ideal, especially as Kyle’s form was at a good level when he crashed out at no fault of his own, which is the story of our season in most cases.
“Plymouth are going to be back to full strength again, but our top end is strong enough to take an away win tonight so the Devils can ill afford to take us lightly despite their win when we last came to them.
“We need to go out on a high, and we intend to go out with a bang tonight and take as many points as we can before we come back to Brough Park on Sunday and do the same over the Berwick Bandits with the later start time of 7pm.”
TONIGHT’S TEAMS
Plymouth Devils: Ricky Wells, Ben Barker, Simon Lambert, Ritchie Hawkins, Kyle Hughes – Rider replacement, James Cockle, Guglielmo Franchetti
Newcastle Diamonds: Mark Lemon, Derek Sneddon (Captain), Kyle Newman – Rider replacement, Stuart Robson , Claes Nedermark, Guest for Joe Haines, Richie Worrall
