Coventry Bees captain Chris Harris was taken to hospital after a high-speed crash in Friday's 59-34 defeat at Elite League leaders Belle Vue.
Harris, who has been carrying rib damage since his spill in the home fixture against Swindon last month, came down on a tight third bend in Heat 11 when the Aces' Steve Worrall tried to come through on the inside.
Home No.1 Matej Zagar was also in close proximity and Harris came to grief heavily with Worrall disqualified by the referee.
But the Bees skipper was unable to take any further part in the meeting and is now suffering from rib injuries on the other side.
That left the visitors in a depleted state as they were already using rider replacement for No.1 Krzysztof Kasprzak due to this weekend's Grand Prix Challenge, while in-form reserve Josh Bates was ruled out due to illness in the day of the meeting.
Belle Vue Colts rider Matt Williamson stepped in to guest at short notice and gave 100 per cent effort, although there were slim pickings for the Bees' lower order against a solid Aces side.
The bulk of the Coventry resistance was provided by British Champion Danny King, who was outstanding, and the ever-spectacular Jason Garrity.
It was Garrity who put the Bees' first win on the board in Heat 5 with a double-points effort to see off the Worrall brothers, whilst King got the better of Matej Zagar and Craig Cook in Heat 7.
Garrity found the narrowest of gaps on the first lap of Heat 8 to hit the front ahead of Scott Nicholls and Joe Jacobs, but he found his way ruthlessly blocked by Patrick Hougaard two races later although King took another fine win.
King had been ahead at the time of the Harris crash in Heat 11, but the re-run saw Zagar take the honours for a 3-3 despite Worrall's disqualification.
At that stage the gap was 13 points, but with the Bees running out of options it was always likely to extend over the closing stages.
That said, there was some excellent racing late-on with track grading enabling further lines to emerge than just the big outside run around the fence.
King used it to his advantage to trap Cook on the inside in a hotly-contested Heat 14 for his third win of the night, although Kacper Woryna’s best ride of the night eventually saw him re-passed by Scott Nicholls.
But King then found himself out-manoeuvred in Heat 15 with the very impressive Jacobs, a former Coventry Storm No.1, coming past him whilst King's way was blocked by leader Cook.
Bees now have two Elite League matches remaining this season, with another trip to title contenders - this time Wolverhampton - on September 12, followed by the last home match against King's Lynn on September 16.
Boss Gary Havelock said: “It’s a difficult place to come even when you’re at full strength, because you look at their pairings and there isn’t a weak link. Joe Jacobs is flying, and I think they’ve got to be favourites for the league at this moment in time.
“The boys tried really hard and there was some fantastic racing. Some of the rides from Jason and Danny were exceptional, and great to watch, but overall it was a bit of a mirror of our season as a whole.
“Bomber’s ribs on the left hand side are still hurting from the crash at Coventry, and the one in the Grand Prix, and now he’s done the ribs on his right side.
“He’s gone to hospital for an x-ray because if you’ve broken ribs it can be really sharp and you’ve got all of the internal organs there, so it’s definitely best to go to hospital and get it checked out.”
ELITE LEAGUE
BELLE VUE 59: Joe Jacobs 12+2, Matej Zagar 11, Richie Worrall 8+3, Craig Cook 8+2, Patrick Hougaard 8+2, Scott Nicholls 7+1, Steve Worrall 5+1
COVENTRY 34: Danny King 14, Jason Garrity 11, Chris Harris 3+1, Matt Williamson 3, James Sarjeant 2+1, Kacper Woryna 1, Krzysztof Kasprzak r/r
Elite League points: Belle Vue 3 Coventry 0