Newport speedway rider Karl Mason is hoping to be part of the Mavericks team in their bid for cup glory against Weymouth.

Mason is still waiting for a left knee operation - but it may be keyhole surgery which could result in his making a swift track return.

Mason missed the first leg of the Conference League Knock-out Cup semi-final at Weymouth last Friday but he could be fit for the return leg - Mavericks trailing by only eight points - on October 9, a meeting which will be a double header, a league encounter between the two teams following the cup battle.

Mason makes no secret of the fact that he wants to help the Mavericks into the final. He said: "I won't be ready to ride at Armadale on Saturday. The team performed well at Weymouth and I don't want to let them down. I want to be back for the second leg.

"And also I don't want to let the supporters down. We have a good team and we deserve some success and so do the fans.

"I am sure that both the Wasps and Mavericks would have done much better had it not been for injuries to riders in both teams."

The other Conference League Knock-out Cup semi-final features Mildenhall and King's Lynn. The first clash is at King's Lynn on October 7 and the return at Mildenhall two days later.

Mavericks' remaining league meetings are at Oxford on October 6 and at home to Buxton ten days later.

Mason watched his team-mates in action at Weymouth and team manager Peter Towersey said: "He was supposed to have had an operation last Friday but it was put off. They (the hospital) seem to think there is a piece of displaced cartilage and if that is the case he will have keyhole surgery and that should enable him to straighten the leg, but he was walking without the help of crutches at the meeting."

And the Mavericks are hoping for a double cup boost because Lee Dicken is scheduled for an eye operation on Monday.

Mavericks' cup showing was an improvement on their league result at Weymouth and gaining an aggregate win is not beyond them. Towersey said: "I said before the meeting that if we kept the margin to single figures it would give us an excellent chance of going through.

"But I was a little disappointed because we have have not won the meeting. We dropped points where we should not have done. I was a little bit disappointed with one or two performances, otherwise it was a good display and a very good meeting.

"Some of the Weymouth supporters said it was some of the best racing they had seen there all season."

One of the best performances came from 16-year-old reserve Sam Hurst who returned a paid 18 points from six rides, including a tactical ride worth double points which resulted in a heat win.

But the Mavericks certainly can't afford to be complacent because riders such as Tom Brown - once of Newport - will be out to prove a point and the talented youngster Lewis Bridger will be difficult to keep quiet, both scoring maximums in the first leg, Brown a paid 12 from four rides and Bridger a full house from five.

Bridger was the only Weymouth rider to get the better of Hurst. It all points to an exciting return leg.