PIRATES spearhead Krzysztof Kasprzak is hoping to defy medics by returning early from injury.

Kasprzak, who has had a poor start to the SGB Premiership campaign with Poole, suffered a broken collarbone in a Polish league meeting on Sunday. He is due to go under the knife on Thursday.

The former world number two, whose team place at Wimborne Road is under scrutiny, was racing for Gorzow at Wroclaw in the Ekstraliga when he fell following first-turn contact with ex-Poole skipper Maciej Janowski.

Kasprzak was attended to by doctors after the spill at the Olympic Stadium and told to expect to be sidelined for around four weeks.

But the 32-year-old, who has been replaced by guest Kenneth Bjerre for Pirates’ clash with Rye House tomorrow, is determined to return earlier.

He told the club website: “I feel so unlucky at the moment. It hasn’t been a good start to my season at all. My equipment is very good but I have been struggling for the past month to find any form and now this.

"It was a racing accident. We were bunched up from the start and I picked up someone’s back wheel as we went into the first corner.

"The bike turned right and I hit the floor quite hard. The X-rays showed that I had a broken collarbone and the doctors told me that I would be out for maybe four weeks.

“But I hope to get back before then and come back to Poole and start winning races.”