Eastbourne Eagles aim to put speedway back in the spotlight for all the right reasons at Arlington Stadium tomorrow night.

Eagles take on Swindon in a fourth versus third clash that could see the Sussex side leapfrog their Elite League rivals again in the title race.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook said: "We have put ourselves in a great position to take the bonus point after only losing by four points at Swindon last week.

"That was a fantastic performance, probably our best of the season considering we lost David Norris in heat one with concussion, and we should be able to win at home if we have lofty ambitions about the rest of the season."

Just as important for Cook is that the match showcases speedway as a family sport once again after the shameful scenes at Wolverhampton on Monday night when Eastbourne were involved in a mass brawl.

The trouble started when a member of the Wolves pit crew attempted to attack Eastbourne rider Nicki Pedersen and escalated into a violent confrontation in which Norris's mechanic Chris Geer suffered head injuries after being kicked while he was on the ground.

Cook described the scenes as "horrendous," while Wolves chief Chris Van Straaten admitted: "What happened has absolutely no place in our sport."

Cook, however, insisted: "It is time to move on. As a team we want to put Monday behind us and get on with what speedway is all about."

Cook admitted Eagles were lucky to come away from Wolverhampton not only in one piece but also with a 47-46 win after the home side were deprived of two of their top riders, Mikael Max and Magnus Karlsson, who were stranded in Sweden when their flight was cancelled.

Cook said: "That was probably our worst display of the season. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get three points."

Eastbourne's current problems revolve around the form of Dean Barker and Adam Shields who are proving the team's weakest link.

Barker, who scored only one point at Wolverhampton and one at Swindon, was set to practise with Norris at Arlington today.

Cook explained: "It worked for Andrew Moore, who has improved phenomenally over the last couple of weeks, so we hope it will do the trick for Dean.

"We think Dean's problems are engine based. He has been to see one of the top engine tuners this week to see if that helps. We need to get him going again."

The rot set in when Barker's bike packed up before his first race at Swindon and he was excluded under the two-minute rule. Since then he really has not got out of the blocks.

Cook added: "We have seen flashes of what both Dean and Adam can do this season in fits and starts, but we need them to show some consistency. They should be our strongest link but at the moment they are the weakest link.

"Despite that, I am buoyed by where we are at the moment. It's a very open league and we are definitely a top four team. I'm very excited. If we hadn't had a virus in the team at the start of the season we would be second now."

Eastbourne will be unchanged against Swindon, with Steen Jensen having seemingly cemented his position in the line-up.

The visitors are spearheaded by Leigh Adams, who finished second in last weekend's European Grand Prix in Poland, and one-time Arlington junior Lee Richardson, who is one of only two British riders in this year's world championship line-up.

Swindon have problems at reserve. Sebastien Tresarrieu is involved in an international meeting, Oliver Allen is injured and both Mads Korneliussen and Tommy Allen are on call for their Premier League clubs.

Tomorrow's match starts at 7.30.