Bandits’ blow as Voldrih breaks leg

On Monday it was confirmed that Matic Voldrih had broken his leg whilst competing in the Slovenian national championships, just a week after new number one Ben Barker broke bones in his left hand on his debut for the club.

And with Thomas Jorgensen facing a race to get fit after withdrawing from the Bandits’ meeting at Glasgow on Sunday it means the Borderers are already facing major selection worries ahead of this week’s League Cup meeting against Edinburgh.

Voldrih flew out after Sunday’s defeat at Glasgow, and was expected to miss this weekend’s meeting against the Monarchs because of his involvement in the Slovenian Championships during the course of the week.

But on Monday news filtered through that the new Bandit, recommended to the club during the winter by fellow countrymen Matej Zagar, had broken his leg in the first round of the event, which means he will now be sidelined for several weeks.

A club spokesman said: “We had intended to use rider replacement to cover Matic’s rides against Edinburgh in any event, but news of his injury means we may now have to look at alternative options over the coming weeks.”

Bandits have already seen Barker sidelined with broken bones in the heel of his left hand, following a crash on his debut against Newcastle in the Tyne-Tweed Challenge on the opening night of the season.

Barker has been told he is likely to be out for up to four weeks,although the rider himself has indicated that he hopes to be back in the saddle sooner rather than later.

If the Great Britain international is unable to take his place in the side this weekend Berwick will again utilise the guest replacement rule.

To complicate matters, Jorgensen suffered a shoulder injury when he was involved in a heat 15 tumble during the 47-43 defeat at Glasgow on Sunday. Afterwards the Dane revealed through social media that despite a sore shoulder he hopes to be fit to face Edinburgh at Shielfield on Saturday although promoter John Anderson said afterwards that it was uncertain how serious, or not, the injury was.