The injury ravaged Edinburgh squad suffered another blow when Kevin Little was injured at the weekend. Monarchs already had David McAllan out for the season with a knee ligament injury.
Kevin Little is out after falling at Berwick on Saturday in the Fours qualifying round. He went to the Berwick Hospital to have his wrist examined. He was initially under the impression that it was broken but the medical examination suggested that there was no break. The wrist was badly swollen and further examination had to wait until this had gone down.
Kevin became concerned about the pain and swelling and returned for a further examination on Monday. By then the swelling had gone down sufficiently to reveal a break of bone on the outside of his wrist. The break has not been plastered and will be left to heal naturally. This is expected to take three to four weeks although Kevin expects to be back earlier than that.
Kevin missed his last ride at Berwick and the Glasgow and Newcastle rounds. Stewart McDonald, who was himself injured and ruled out of the reserve slot in the Edinburgh and Berwick fours round, deputized.
He appears certain to miss a number of matches including those held next weekend at home to Berwick in the Premier League and away to Newcastle in the Premier National Trophy Semi-Final. Monarchs will have guest facilities for Kevin up to 8.90 points. For the match against Berwick, Monarchs will use Mick Powell.
This guest facility will be of little use against Newcastle with all Premier League teams bar Arena Essex in action next Sunday. Of the Arena Riders, Colin White and Leigh Lanham have averages too high while Troy Pratt is himself injured. The best available rider would appear to be Roger Lobb who has a current average of 5.78. Monarchs will use rider replacement at Newcastle. This will give an extra ride to James Grieves (who scored a full maximum at Newcastle in the Fours), Ross Brady, Stewart McDonald, and Blair Scott.
Fortunately, there seem to be plenty of choice for guests on the Southern tour should Kevin not be fit in time. Neil Collins will probably come into contention for the matches at Stoke and Newport while Paul Pickering would appear to be the best bet for Exeter.