Kye Thomson hands Edinburgh Monarchs huge fitness boost ahead of Brummies trip

Edinburgh Monarchs heat leader Kye Thomson has declared himself fit for tomorrow night's Championship visit to the Birmingham Brummies.

The 23-year Australian crashed into the fence at high speed in heat 12 of Saturday night's KO Cup return leg at Ashfield, the Monarchs progressing to the penultimate stage of the competition with a 91-89 aggregate victory over arch-rivals the Glasgow Tigers.

Despite suffering extreme bruising to his pelvic area, Thomson is ready to aid the Capital side's Championship pursuit as they go in search of all four points at Perry Barr Stadium tonight.

"Luckily there were no broken bones which is a big plus," Thomson explained. "I thought I had done something serious as I was in excruciating pain. But I've spent a couple of days resting at home. I know when something is broken, I've experienced it many times before! I've committed to riding tomorrow as I don't want to let the team down. We definitely need a win. Paco (Castagna) is a former Birmingham rider and Sam (Masters) and Josh (Pickering) can score very well around there. It's one of the tracks I like too, so I think we can get the job done.”

Kye Thomson will ride at Birmingham despite suffering a heavy crash against Glasgow. Picture: Jack Cupido.

Monarchs will again be without the injured Lasse Fredriksen and James Sarjeant for the trip to the Midlands. Rider replacement will operate for the Norwegian while Redcar Bears' Jason Edwards will once again guest in place of Sarjeant. The club are also boosted by the return of top duo Masters and Pickering who were absent at Glasgow over the weekend due to their Polish commitments.