Eastbourne must score back-to-back wins over Oxford and Belle Vue to stay in the race for an Elite League play-off place.

That's the verdict of Eagles boss Jon Cook following Monday night's 16-point defeat at Wolverhampton which also cost his side the bonus point against their main rivals.

Cook said: "It really is crunch time now. There is no looking back after this weekend.

"We need to get six points from the next two matches or we are out of it."

Mark Loram will make his latest track return from injury against Belle Vue tomorrow night but will not ride in tonight's match at Oxford.

Cook explained: "Mark is going to have a spin at Arlington on Friday but he doesn't plan to ride at Oxford. He feels happier about coming back at Arlington."

Cook was unhappy about Eastbourne's display against Wolves but more upset over the performance of referee Craig Ackroyd, who twice excluded Nicki Pedersen after incidents involving Peter Karlsson.

"We were disappointing but I feel Nicki is being victimised because of his reputation as a hard rider. He was excluded twice for things which happened on the first bend but when Peter Karlsson rode straight through him nothing was done about it."

It was a bad night for Pedersen, who failed to win in six races. He will be hoping for better things tonight when he goes back to Oxford, another of his former clubs, who sacked him earlier this season.

Belle Vue did Eagles a favour by beating Wolves 49-41 on Wednesday, with Screen scoring a paid 11 points and they could be dangerous opponents at Arlington tomorrow night.

Eastbourne: Mark Loram, David Norris, Dean Barker, Adam Shields, Nicki Pedersen, Glenn Cunningham, Joonas Kylmakorpi. Belle Vue: Joe Screen, Frank Smart, Jason Lyons, Steve Johnston, Jason Crump, Craig Watson, Neil Collins. The start is at 7.30pm.