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Darcy Ward to return to the Abbey on Thursday

Aussie ace Darcy Ward will be in attendance to make an emotional return to the Abbey when Swindon host King’s Lynn on Thursday, August 4, race tapes up at 7.30.

Ward joined the M&S Van Rental Robins last July and made an immediate impact, leading their late-season surge into the Elite League play-offs.

He roared to over 100 points in just ten meetings for the club but saw his career cruelly cut short by serious spinal injuries suffered in a crash in Poland last August.

He has since moved back to Australia to continue his rehabilitation alongside partner Lizzie, but after travelling back to Europe for a short trip they will head to Swindon to see two of his former clubs in action.

Team manager Alun Rossiter is delighted to have Ward in attendance as they search for a vital victory to revive their play-off ambitions.

Said Rossiter: “It will be great to see Darcy on Thursday, and we’ll be able to have a chat with him during the meeting and catch up on how he’s getting on.

“He received a huge amount of support from the Swindon fans and I know he wants to thank them for that.

“We all know what he did for us last year when he came into the team, he turned us around and helped make us into title contenders before he had that awful injury, so I’m sure everyone will be really pleased to see him and Liz back at the Abbey.”