Alex Harkess hits back as Justin Sedgmen lays into Edinburgh Monarchs

Justin Sedgmen had his say on his Monarchs departure. Pic: Ron MacNeill

Sedgmen joined Championship rivals Sheffield Tigers a fortnight ago and scored ten points against his former teammates in their match at Owlerton on Sunday which Monarchs lost 49-41.

Speaking in ‘Speedway Star’ magazine, Sedgmen said that he wasn’t happy at the way “Edinburgh handled things” adding that “whether you’re fit or on the sidelines you want to be involved and you want to feel wanted and appreciated and that wasn’t the case towards the end at  Edinburgh.”

Harkess also flatly rejects Sedgmen’s claims that “When you can’t talk to your team managers and they won’t even answer their phones to talk to you, that’s pretty annoying and pathetic really”.

Harkess responded to his former heat leader star insisting: “He has never phoned me at any time, I can’t answer the phone if he doesn’t call.

“He got injured in May and unfortunately we had no idea when he was coming back from his injury because he kept telling different stories about his injury.

“It got very difficult because we then had to make our decision to try and make the team stronger.

“We went a certain way and, to be honest, our away performances have been disappointing since the changes were made, although no-one can complain about Sam Masters returning to the side.”

Harkess continued: “Justin can criticise Edinburgh all he wants but if it wasn’t for Edinburgh he wouldn’t be here. It’s great if you stay in Edinburgh, things are dead easy.

“He stays in the Midlands and we didn’t see him for a month. Last time he was with us he chose to live up here and he was much more involved. It was his choice to live down south.”

Harkess added: “Justin is forgetting we still have his visa. We paid the money for it, and we still have the visa.”

Monarchs entertain Eastbourne Eagles at the Lothian Arena tonight and welcome back Cameron Heeps from injury for a crucial match.

But Harkess points out: “You don’t reach the play-offs by winning just your home fixtures. The difficulty we have is that we will soon run out of away matches and winning on the road has been a problem for us.”