Swindon have been dealt an early injury setback with the news that Adam Ellis has suffered a broken scaphoid.
Ellis endured a nightmare home debut for the Carpets4Less Robins at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday, when he failed to score in the narrow defeat by Belle Vue.
And he could now face around a month on the sidelines leaving the Robins operating the rider-replacement facility, at least in the short term, starting at Rye House in the KO Cup on Saturday.
Swindon boss Alun Rossiter said: “Adam went to hospital after the meeting and normally it takes a while to get the X-ray results, but this time it was clear straightaway that there was a crack.
“Unfortunately after the first crash when he flipped it, he went out on a bent frame for his final ride, and that’s when he came off again and suffered the injury.
“Potentially that means he could be looking at over a month out, but we’ll be working with him to hopefully get him back as soon as possible.
“Under the rules this year we can only use rider-replacement, and at least with Adam third in the averages it does mean that both Nick (Morris) and David (Bellego) will be able to take one of his rides.
“We’re looking at the options for a short-term replacement but that’s not easy as we have to retain two British riders in the team at all times, and also some have Thursday as their home race-night in the Championship.”
