Star Peterborough Panthers rider misses pairs meeting and needs to prove his fitness before he can ride again

The Dane lasted less than a lap in Monday’s dramatic 46-44 home win over King’s Lynn because of a shoulder injury.

He has been ruled out of Thursday’s Pairs round at the Lynn where he was due to partner the flying Chris Harris, with Hans Andersen now set to step in.

If Palm Toft is not fit to face Wolverhampton at the East of England Arena on Monday Panthers would have the option of bringing in a guest, which would have been virtually impossible this week when all Premiership clubs were racing on the same night.

Lyon said: “We didn’t really discuss it after the meeting. but we said we’d talk later in the week to see how he is.“He jarred it coming off that second corner, and he had pain where he hadn’t had it previously all week, so it’s a tricky one.“I think he probably needs to get some laps in and test it before he comes back competitively, but we’ll monitor it each day.

“It was a busy night juggling things around, but injury rider replacement has become part of our make-up after last year and we managed to get there in the end, and that’s the main thing.

Victory over the Stars finally lifted Panthers off the foot of the Premiership table, and although they still have a big job on to reach the top four, things do at least look brighter than in the early weeks.

One of the big reasons for that has been the form of Harris, who at the age of 39 has never ridden better, and has found a set-up which enables him to completely dominate on his home track.

Lyon said: “At the moment we’ve got Bomber riding like an out-and-out No.1, a proper No.1, and we’ve probably not had that since Tofty towards the end of last year.

“Last season we were all like a collective, and this year we’ve been pretty much the same, but all of a sudden Bomber has just kicked on, and he looks outstanding.“You feel like you can rely on him in every single race at the moment, and it makes a big difference.”