Newcastle Diamonds were handed a 55-38 defeat by Sheffield Tigers in the Premier League on Thursday.

The only bright point of the evening for Diamonds was the performance of their rider Jason King, who top-scored with 16 from his outings.

Tigers were strong throughout, particularly thanks to the efforts of captain Andre Compton, Ricky Ashworth and Paul Cooper.

Sheffield travel to the Newcastle Stadium on Sunday for the return game.

Meanwhile Jerran Hart is awaiting more news as to the length of time he needs to recover from the pelvic injury he picked up at Weymouth on Saturday.

"I wanted to be back in the saddle as soon as August 8th, but I think it's fair to say that's probably not being realistic if I'm honest," the 17-year-old told the club website.

"Brian Simpson, who's been dealing with the laser surgery, said I could be back in as little as four weeks, but the hospital have since told me it could be as long as eight to 10 weeks."