The unbeaten Poole Coastal Aluminium Pirates have been dealt a massive blow ahead of their 17th match of the 2012 season with the news that number one Darcy Ward was injured in Poland today (Sunday).

Ward clipped the rear wheel of Tomasz Jedrzejak in his opening ride during the Torun v Wroclaw Ekstraliga fixture and sustained a broken hand which need surgery.

Darcy underwent an operation which involved two broken bones and could find himself sidelined for up to four weeks.

Poole boss Matt Ford who was at the meeting and saw the crash reacted quickly to find cover for Ward for Wednesday night's visit of Birmingham, with 2011 Poole skipper Davey Watt being drafted in as a replacement.

That means the past two and present day captain, Chris Holder, will all be in action at Wimborne Road as the Brummies are headed by Bjarne Pedersen.

Holder scored paid 14 for Torun, beaten only by fellow GP competitor Freddie Lindgren whilst Adrian Miedzinski also hit double figures for the home side with paid 12, dropping his only point to Jedrrzejak, but for Wroclaw's Dennis Andersson it was a miserable paid 3 return his only points coming from that fateful heat 3.

Ford who is still finalising a replacement for Miedzinski said "This is a massive blow to us and the one thing that we really feared. Darcy was in a lot of discomfort and he was advised to have the operation as soon as possible. Just how long he will be out we are not sure at this stage and we will have to monitor the situation closely. This coming week we only have the one meeting (against Birmingham) and whilst we do not have a home fixture the following Wednesday we will be at Wolverhampton on the Monday (25th) and King's Lynn on the Friday (29th), two venues where we would dearly love to have a fit Darcy.