WORLD Speedway Champion Tai Woffinden has admitted he is a lucky man after his horror crash at Eastbourne on Saturday.And the Wolverhampton man will meet his own surgeon on Monday to establish whether he needs surgery on the broken bone in his left hand.

He's refusing to rule himself out of next weekend's Gorzow FIM Speedway Grand Prix at the Edward Jancarz Stadium in Poland - but has vowed to race only if he can control the bike and is no danger to himself and his opponents."I'm battered and bruised, I feel dreadful, the hand and wrist are badly swollen but I know I'm a lucky man after that crash," he said. Woffinden crashed out in Wolverhampton's 55-35 defeat at Eastbourne and will miss the return fixture on Monday night.

"I remember everything about it and I knew I was in trouble fairly early. I made the start, then I hit some unexpected drive from a rut and the bike was running away from me - I was hanging on by my fingertips but the throttle was wide open and I ended up piling into wooden fence panels at high speed and the fencing behind them."It all happened so quickly from the moment I was thrown out of control and there was nothing I could do."I took out three fence panels and the whole thing looked a mess. I thought I'd broken bones everywhere, the pain was horrendous so I was relieved when the x-rays came back with just the broken hand."So whilst I'm in agony doing this interview and need to rest - I can hardly move my left hand - I do appreciate I have got away with it to an extent.

"I will see my surgeon who did a great job on my collarbone and scaphoid last year - I went through the pain barrier to win the title then and I'm going to have to do it again. This time, however, the injury is worse."I want to be in Gorzow - but I will only ride if I'm 70% fit and no danger to myself and the other guys in the meeting."Finally I'd like to thank everyone for their good wishes over the last 24 hours."