LUKE Killeen is set to continue a whirlwind few days by making his Oxford Cheetahs debut this week.

The 17-year-old Australian comes in as guest rider for Wednesday's visit of Glasgow Tigers, with Kyle Newman and Josh MacDonald ruled out through illness protocols and injury respectively.

Killeen only made his debut for development team Oxford Chargers last Tuesday due to a delay in receiving his British passport.

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But the teenager’s haul of 13+2 in the National Development League win at Plymouth Centurions earned him a place at the top table for Wednesday's SGB Championship fixture.

“I went with a punt of someone who wants to be involved with Oxford Speedway,” said coach Peter Schroeck.

“He’s a hell of a talent, we’re going to give him a go and he could end up being a surprise.”

Killeen’s promotion follows more bad luck for countryman MacDonald, who has had a rotten season.

The 25-year-old took a heavy fall in the closing stages of Friday’s 53-37 defeat in Glasgow, aggravating an ankle injury.

MacDonald broke his tibia in heat two of Cheetahs’ opening meeting of the season against Scunthorpe Scorpions and only recently returned to action.

The reserve was back in the side for the clash with Newcastle Diamonds on June 8, which was abandoned due to a waterlogged track, but now finds himself sat on the sidelines again.

Schroeck said: “His ankle injury has reappeared, so we have to reassess that.

“He won’t be with us on Wednesday, that’s for sure, and probably not Friday either.

“It’s been very tough for the lad, because he hasn’t really had a chance to get a run.

“He puts a lot of pressure on himself because he wants to ride his bike and come back, but as a club we’ve got to be really careful how we play this.

“We need everybody to be firing on all cylinders to reach our goal to get into the play-offs.”

Newman missed the trip to Glasgow due to illness and league rules state he cannot race for seven days, so he is unavailable on Wednesday but returns for Friday's fixture at Edinburgh Monarchs.

Cheetahs were already without Jack Thomas after the 23-year-old broke both wrists riding for King’s Lynn Stars earlier this month, although Aaron Summers is set to make his debut.