Eastbourne Eagles are hoping for an old pal's act from former skipper Joe Screen tomorrow night.

Screen is the Sussex side's banker to replace the injured David Norris as they go head to head with Ipswich in the Knockout Cup at Arlington Stadium.

A potential passage into the final awaits the winners against Arena Essex and Screen said: "I'm looking forward to it and hopefully Eastbourne can get through.

"David and I are good mates. I've known him all the time I've been in speedway. We've travelled all over the place together. I even went to Australia with him."

Screen knows it won't be easy. In fact, Ipswich will go into tomorrow's quarter-final tie as favourites to progress after taking a nine-point lead in the first leg.

"They're a very good team, but the last time I rode at Arlington I got a good score. If I can do the same again, then who knows?"

Technically, Screen is still an Eastbourne rider, having joined Belle Vue on loan midway through last season when Eagles brought in world champion Nicki Pedersen.

The Screen machine was less than happy at being told to get on his bike out of Arlington, but that is all water under the bridge now.

Last month he top scored with 13 points in the Elite League win over Arena when he guested for Norris, who was riding in the final Grand Prix qualifier in Denmark.

It has been an up and down season for Screen, mainly because Belle Vue have had meeting after meeting rained off. "The way things have been, it's been difficult to get motivated," he said.

But Screen did become the British champion again, eight years after he first lifted the title, when he won an incident-packed final at Oxford which saw Norris declared the runner-up after he fell and both Mark Loram and Scott Nich-olls had suffered engine failures.

Eastbourne have beaten Ipswich twice at home in the league, by ten points and seven points, and the chances are it will go down to the wire tomorrow night.

One thing seems certain. Eagles will not go out without a fight. Boss Jon Cook said: "I couldn't believe we took two points out of Monday's meeting after having David and Steen Jensen taken to hospital. I was so proud of the team. I'd rank that as one of the best achievements of my career."

Ipswich boss John Louis is prepared for a battle. "I think we can hold on to our lead, but it's going to be close.

"Eastbourne are always tough opponents, and despite their injury problems I don't expect it to be any different this time."

Surprisingly, the Witches, who are also vying with Eagles for third place in the league and a plum play-off spot, have not won away from home since they beat Arena on May 5. Monday night's defeat at Peterborough was their tenth on the trot.

Eastbourne, though, will almost certainly need a major contribution from Screen.

Norris, who suffered a double fracture of his right leg during Monday's match with Swindon, has top scored in four matches against Ipswich this season and amassed 57 points in the process.

His absence now rules out a potentially explosive clash with Hans Andersen, the rider he had a dust-up with earlier in the season and who then infuriated British fans by blocking Nicholls in the deciding World Cup race allowing Peter Karlsson to win it for Sweden.

Andersen, who admitted he thought about quitting British speedway in the aftermath, failed to win a race at Peterborough on his first away appearance for Ipswich since the furore five weeks ago.

Eastbourne will have Tomas Topinka in place of the axed Adrian Miedzinzki and will need another guest rider at reserve if Jensen, who suffered head injuries on Monday, has not recovered.

Eastbourne: Joe Screen, Edward Kennett, Joonas Kylmakorpi, Adam Shields, Nicki Pedersen, Tomas Topinka, Steen Jensen.

Ipswich: Hans Andersen, Danny Bird, Jesper Jensen, Chris Louis, Scott Nicholls, Daniel King, Kim Jansson.

Tomorrow's match starts at 7.30pm.