Ipswich Witches Aussie racer Jake Allen admits he is enjoying Ipswich ‘a lot more than I thought I would’, writes Henry Chard.
The Brisbane-flyer is currently out injured with a badly damaged shoulder picked up in a crash against Poole last month at Foxhall.
It was a shame for the 23-year-old as well as the Witches, with Allen in great form.
He's taking another week off away from the sport to continue intensive physio and admits it is a more serious injury than he first thought.
"I dislocated my shoulder, suffered an anterior labral tear and a bone bruise to the humeral head. There's laxity in the joint capsule and some swelling in the joint, so I've been told!", Allen said.
"I went to the physio straightaway and he said to give it another couple of weeks or so to try and build it up and get it stronger.
"The more I ride with it the more I will halt the progress, so he said while I don't have too many meetings try and sit them out and get it as strong as I can."
"My physio said the only way to get it fixed was to get it operated on. It is a serious injury, but it is manageable throughout the year if I can manage to get everything strong around it.
"That is what I am trying to do, and I will re-evaluate at the end of the season and go from there."
Of course any injury to any Witch after the start to the season the team have made was always going to be bad news, and Allen's is certainly that, with him impressing since his move to Suffolk with some big scores, including a brilliant 16 points against Swindon earlier in the campaign at Foxhall.
"I have enjoyed it at Foxhall a lot more than I thought I would, to be honest," he said.
"When I have gone there as an away rider in previous seasons I always found Foxhall quite a difficult track. But once you get dialled in and find something that works it is a relatively easy track if you can get out of the start.
"It is definitely a good home track to have as most away riders don't like it."
Allen believes the relaxed nature of the team has been key to the team's performance so far this season.
"We all get on good and there is a lot of banter there.
"I think that shows on the track, we are all relaxed going into meetings and not too nervous. We know what we can do around Ipswich and that has showed all year, we have not been beaten yet."
The Witches were due to race Swindon at Foxhall last night but that meeting was called off because of the weather.
They now head to King's Lynn on Monday night, before welcoming the Stars back to Foxhall next Thursday. Two big local derbies.
"As a team we have been going really good, the meetings have been a little close with both recent TV meetings going down to the wire," he said (the Witches beat Wolves 46-44 but lost to Belle Vue 43-47).
"Hopefully, we can start to win by a little more and not take it down to the last couple of heats!
Meanwhile, Allen says he is making good progress in his recovery as he aims to be back on the bike as soon as possible.
"I am having physio a couple of times a week and he has given me things to do at home to try and get everything done," he added.
"We are just re-evaluating at the start of each week and I have been making good progress so hopefully I can keep that going."
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