INJURED Pirates racer Brady Kurtz is today due to step up his recovery bid by undergoing oxygen therapy.

The former Somerset flier suffered a broken rib while riding for Pila in a Polish second-tier meeting on Sunday, also damaging his shoulder in the spill.

And Pirates team boss Neil Middleditch has booked Kurtz in at Solent MS Therapy Centre in Portsmouth with the aim of speeding up his return to action.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is typically given to multiple sclerosis sufferers but can also be used to treat injuries such as Kurtz's, enhancing the body's natural healing process by inhalation of 100 per cent oxygen within a chamber.

Middleditch told the Daily Echo: "Hopefully, the therapy will speed up the healing time. With a cracked rib, there is nothing else you can do to fix it.

"The injury will put him out for a minimum of three weeks and he is still quite heavily bruised. He's a young man and will heal quickly but it's still going to be a frustrating time.

"He has had a bit of trouble with his shoulder as well but he had an X-ray and there is nothing broken, so we are going to get some physio done on it.

"He's pretty depressed, especially as his mum and dad are not going to get to see him ride having come all the way from Australia."

Pirates tonight face King's Lynn for the second time in as many days, the clash taking place in Norfolk where the Stars have only lost to high-fliers Belle Vue and Wolverhampton this season (7.30pm).

Middleditch added: "The King's Lynn track is like Marmite – you either love it or you hate it.

"It will be a tough task and if we can come away with anything, I'll be very happy.

"We've done it in the past so there is no reason why we can't do it again. But with the amount of injuries we are carrying, we really have our backs against the wall."