Top Australian track cyclist Shane Perkins is out of a major pre-Commonwealth Games event as he battles a back injury.
The 27-year-old went to hospital on Tuesday for treatment on the lower-back problem and has withdrawn from this week's International Track Series in Adelaide.
Perkins, the reigning Commonwealth champion in the sprint, and his coach Gary West remain confident he will be ready for Glasgow.
But with the Games track competition starting five weeks from this Thursday, cycling team management decided to rest him now and give the injury a chance to heal.
"I'm pretty gutted I can't race this week, but it hasn't improved," Perkins said.
"I'd rather get it right now and be 100 per cent for the Comm Games, as opposed to potentially just getting through this week and it's not healing in time.
"I'm pretty confident Gary and the team can get my back up to 100 per cent and we can attack Glasgow with the ferocity we need."
Perkins suffered the injury while training in the gym.
Making matters worse, he then had to honour a contract to race keirins in Japan and has just returned from a fortnight's competition.
Perkins managed some good results in Japan, despite feeling sick every morning because of the pain as he tried to loosen up his back.
"The main thing it needs is rest," Perkins said.
Perkins and West are also looking at the enforced rest as a positive, saying it will help him freshen up before starting his pre-Games training block.
"It is a setback, clearly," West said.
"But we've had setbacks before (with) other athletes ... we have time on our side."
Perkins plans to test how the injury is healing with work on a stationary bike this Saturday and then hopefully return to training next week.
He is one of the senior members of the Australian team and at this stage his Games program will include the sprint, team sprint and keirin.
Perkins admits he is particularly keen to do well after his controversy at the last Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
He gave a two-fingered salute to a race judge after being disqualified from a keirin heat.
Perkins apologised and withdrew from the team sprint as punishment.
"Obviously in the keirin, it would be nice to get a bit of redemption in that from four years ago," he said on Wednesday.
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