Former World Superbike star Karl Muggeridge will be back in action at the Portimao round this weekend as he stands in for the injured again Ruben Xaus in the Castrol Honda squad.

Xaus has just recovered from injuries sustained at Brno, making a return at Imola but a stuck throttle at Magny-Cours saw him jump off again, damaging his neck which has forced the Catalan to sit out this weekend's action.

"Obviously, I’m sorry for Ruben because it’s never good to miss out through injury, especially the last round of the season. However, I hope I can bring something positive to the team to help the guys finish the year on a good note," said Muggeridge.

"I’ve got no pre-conceived ideas on where I should be over the weekend, so we’ll just take each session as it comes and try to make some steps forward in each one. I haven’t ridden at Portimao since the first race here in 2008 and the CBR that I’ve been riding in the German championship is a quite different bike to the current Castrol Honda version. So it’s a big task but one that I’m determined to make the most of."