DARCY Ward will return to the Abbey Stadium when Swindon host King’s Lynn in the Elite League on Thursday night.

Crowd favourite Ward was an instant hero when he joined the Robins last season, boosting their late-season surge into the Elite League play-offs with more than 100 points in just 10 meetings.

However, the Australian rider's career was then cut short by serious spinal injuries suffered in a crash in Poland last August.

Ward has 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 said: “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.”