New world champion Mark Loram roars into Arlington Stadium tomorrow night (7.30).

Loram, the first British rider to win the Grand Prix series, is certain to get a huge reception from the Eastbourne supporters when he lines up for Poole Pirates.

Once the tapes go up, however, no one will be doing Loram any favours, and the fans will be rooting for him to be toppled every time he comes on to the track.

Eagles quite simply cannot afford to lose if they are keep alive their hopes of adding the Craven Shield to their Elite League triumph.

Defeats against Poole and Oxford in the away legs of their group matches have left the Sussex squad with a lot to do.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook believes Eagles are far from out of it. "It's still wide open, and providing we win both our home matches, and pick up at least one bonus point, then we will still be in with a chance."

To get the drop on tomorrow's visitors, Eagles need to win by at least 14 points, which would mean a run-off for the bonus point, or overturn the 52-38 deficit from the match at Poole.

Providing Joe Screen has recovered from an ankle injury, Eagles are set to track their strongest line-up for several months.

Screen rode through the pain barrier last weekend in the Grand Prix Challenge in Germany to capture one of the places up for grabs in next year's world series.

Skipper Martin Dugard is back for the first time since suffering a broken collar-bone and fractured ribs in the World Team Cup, and Dean Barker continues despite waiting to go into hospital for an operation on damaged knee ligaments.

Loram spearheads a Poole team which surprisingly struggled to make an impact in the league but on paper is certainly good enough to cause an upset.

Eagles are playing down the possibility of the match being wiped out by the weather.

Stadium owner and co-promoter Bob Dugard said: "Normally the track drains in four hours."