Speedway: Dilger struggling but defies doctor's orders

Dilger, pictured, broke his collarbone at Workington Comets in April but has continued to race on despite admitting that his shoulder requires surgery. He denies he is losing a personal battle to regain his fitness, others however point out that on occasions he has struggled to keep hold of his bike.

Dilger says he is reluctant to agree to an operation because of the recovery time involved and is fearful Monarchs would drop him from their team – something that could happen sooner than later unless his points ratio increases. The German, who faces Glasgow Tigers in tonight's Premier League derby at Armadale, explained: "The problem is the muscle that I've cracked is the biggest one in the shoulder and the one which gives the shoulder 70 per cent of its flexibility and power.

"And to make matters worse, over the last couple of weeks, I've crashed while riding in Germany and hurt my back.

"It is not good for confidence and I'm trying hard to concentrate on my racing and not worry about whether I'm going to crash again or not."

Despite criticism levelled against Dilger he is doing his job as a three-point reserve rider, but confessed: "I'm struggling to keep hold of my bike for four laps, and if the Armadale track is grippy, which the team have requested, I have problems with the power in my shoulder.

"When I went to see a specialist in Germany recently he advised that I needed an operation. But it would then take four or five months before I could ride again and that would mean the season being over. I feel my shoulder is getting better and when my head is clear I feel confident about feeling comfortable on my bike. But I've had so many crashes this year I've not convinced myself about my confidence, that's the problem."

It's an open secret that Monarchs are monitoring Dilger who scored one point in their 48-41 victory at Scunthorpe on Monday and feel he should go home for surgery.

Monarchs director Mike Hunter said: "You have to go by what Max says and it's hard to tell how much the shoulder is affecting him. He is riding overseas and is doing all right, we are constantly looking at the situation. It's up to Max to improve, if he doesn't, we may have to make a second change to the team."

Dilger's new teammate Tobias Busch makes his debut this evening after replacing Joszef Tabaka who was released after a period of low scoring.

Busch faces a baptism of fire against Glasgow, who shocked Monarchs on their last visit to Armadale in a 52-43 Premier Trophy triumph – a loss which earned the Monarchs riders a public dressing down from the management.

Like Tabaka, Monarchs chief Alex Harkess says Busch, who races for Stralsund in the Bundesliga, represents another gamble.

"But he is worth the risk because I think he can develop into a very good rider, he perhaps lacks experience, but he has a lot of meetings to ride between now and October, and could come on in leaps and bounds."

Glasgow's bid for another Armadale success would appear to be fanciful given that they are marooned in the basement area of the table and have found winning at Ashfield to be beyond them on occasions, let alone on the road.

Their track has also come in for some stick which has exacerbated their home woes.

However they did defeat Somerset last weekend which saw Travis McGowan notch up his first 15-point maximum for the club. Reserve Jamie Courtney also pitched in with eight points, but he and partner Anders Andersen, now have the unenviable task of trying to put the brakes on Monarchs tail-ender Kalle Katajisto who is sweeping all before him at the moment.

The super Finn, who scored ten points guesting for Somerset at Birmingham in midweek, only managed five points in that Premier Trophy debacle-and how Glasgow would love to see him do that again.