King's Lynn Stars' tough guy Trevor Harding will defy a punctured back injury to race in tomorrow's Norfolk Arena Premier League clash against Workington.

King's Lynn Stars' tough guy Trevor Harding will defy a punctured back injury to race in tomorrow's Norfolk Arena Premier League clash against Workington.

The Aussie needed stitches in a lower back wound after being taken to hospital following a painful collision with Edinburgh's George Stancl in the champions' recent 60-33 league romp.

Harding clipped the Monarch's heat leader and careered into the fence before Stancl's clutch lever slammed into the youngster's lower back - missing his kidney by a centimetre.

“I've travelled all the way from Australia to race and a little thing like this is not going to stop me,” said a bruised Harding.

“Luckily no bones are broken but there is still a fair bit of pain and discomfort. When you ride in a team that is so close knit and full of battlers the camaraderie is great. When Bruce (Paul Lee) rode with bruised ribs he had real trouble breathing, but he still rode amazingly well and it makes you feel that you just want to get back out there and help your team mates. I don't want to let any of them down, we must keep this fantastic season going.”

Lynn bid to land their first trophy of the season in next week's scheduled Premier Trophy second leg return against Birmingham. The holders protect a healthy 51-39 lead after a superb away win at Perry Barr.

The Stars are also eight points clear of nearest rivals Isle of Wight in the league table. The current top two will now face off in the KO Cup semi-finals after the Islanders' 95-90 aggregate win over Rye House. Chris Holder and Jason Bunyan chipped in with 28 points in a narrow 50-43 weekend defeat at Hoddesdon that booked the Islanders' place in the last four.

Stars' co-promoter Jonathan Chapman confirmed Lynn will host the first leg on Friday, August 24 at the Norfolk Arena, with the away leg poised to take place the following week.

Chapman is confident Lynn can rely on massive home support for the rest of this season after last week's Edinburgh Saddlebow visit topped the 2,000 mark.

“We had over 2,000 people here enjoying a good night of speedway,” he said. “I believe 80pc of those people were local fans and the other 20pc were holidaymakers. We've been promoting the sport up on the coast and we always put extra effort in to make sure all the children enjoy themselves. Over the last few years the club has slowly changed its whole emphasis so it is becoming driven by supporters and the local community. It's almost like a big family down here at the Norfolk Arena. When people come along for the first time they feel so welcome and have such a good time they can't wait to come back and see us again.”

Workington's new recruit Ulrich Ostergaard will spearhead the Comets' challenge tomorrow after his shock Birmingham exit earlier this month.