Edinburgh are stepping up their search to find a replacement for injured reserve David McAllan. It is hoped to have a new rider in place in time for the first leg tie of the Premier National Trophy at Newcastle next Sunday.
Jon Swales, captain of Linlithgow has stepped in against Reading but is not likely to be a candidate to take the position full time since his work committments make it difficult to get to Armadale on a Friday.
Alex Harkess added "He is an option available to us, that's all. He had a problem getting to Armadale on Friday as he works. He only turned out for us against Reading after he worked his lunch hour to get away".
Alex Harkess stressed that finding a ideal rider will not be easy:
"There are not lots of three-point riders would could score points for you lying around. To be fair, losing David won't alter the balance of our team because he wasn't the most high profile of scorers. He was good in heat two and continually picked up points in that race. But away from home he hasn't picked up many at all. As he's the lowest points scorer, he's the least missed but he is still very much part of our team."
Covering fr the absence of McAllan should not be a major problem for Monarchs. .
"Take away heat two and David struggled to score points on the road. He got nothing at Sheffield, Arena Essex, and Workington. It certainly would have been much harder to replace him had he been a seven point man. Glasgow have recently changed their reserve, bringing in some youngster who stays in Peterborough."
"Howver it's finding a sixteen-year-old worth bringing in who will do a job for you and, more importantly, is capable of improving, which remains the problem. Every promoter in the country is looking for someone like that. As David probably won't race again this year we need somebody - it's as simple as that.
McAllan is considered to be a stylish rider who was capable of attaining heat leader status.
"Obviously the injury is a shattering blow to the lad. He was getting better and faster and was really fighting for those third places that make the difference between winning and losing matches."
For example, he picked up a thid place against Brian Turner at Ashfield which proved critical as Monarchs ran out 46-44 winners in the Premier National Trophy match.
"Everyone at the club wishes him an extremely speedy recovery."
An unnamed candidate had a try out at Armadale last Friday and was due to appear at Linlithgow on Saturday in the Heathersfield Gold Helmet round but this fell victim to the rain. The unamed rider was believed to be Lee Smethills from Bolton who has recently turned 17 and has turned out for Workington versus Reading.
With the Fours now over and the Premier National Trophy Semi-Final looming and the tough Southern tour coming up, time is running out. The match against Berwick on Friday may provide an opportunity to try someone out before the harder matches come up.