THE presence of Justin Sedgmen means Swindon Robins can go into tonight’s meeting with a glimmer of hope after all, according to reserve Steve Worrall.

Australian Sedgmen comes into the side as a replacement for number one Peter Kildemand, who is riding in a European Championship qualifier not sanctioned by the British speedway authorities, meaning the Robins team is significantly weaker on paper given their top man has been replaced by a rider with a Premier League average of just 5.76.

Worrall rides with Sedgmen for Edinburgh Monarchs in the second tier and has been impressed with the Aussie’s form so far in 2014, meaning the loss of Kildemand may not be quite as big a blow as first feared.

“it’s going to be hard for us because Kildemand is one of our main men, and we’re already peeing into the wind, but you never know what can happen in speedway,” he said.

“Justin Sedgmen is coming in and I know him pretty well because I ride with him at Edinburgh.

“He’s on a good run of form at the moment so he might not struggle and it might not be as bad as people think because he goes really well around those small tracks.”

The young Swindon reserve guested at Arlington for Coventry last weekend in similar circumstances to Sedgmen this time out, and enjoyed his first experience in an Elite League top five despite only picking up two points.

“I was there last week and I really enjoyed it to be honest,” he said.

“I was in the top five which obviously made it pretty hard but I think I did alright although it didn’t look like I did well on paper.

“I felt like I did really good to be honest and I was pleased with what I did.”

Worrall was once again robbed of precious laps around the Abbey Stadium when the Robins’ meeting with Leicester was postponed on Thursday night due to the wet weather, much to his frustration.

“It’s a bit of a nightmare really because it seems to rain every Thursday, maybe they should change Swindon’s race night to avoid the rain,” Worrall joked.

“I need to get some laps in at the track to help get used to it but it just isn’t happening because of the weather.

“I had a late night the previous night because I was guesting at Birmingham so I was rushing to get things together. I was on the road for an hour and a half before it got called off on Thursday so it would have been good had it been called off earlier because it would have meant I could relax a little more.”