Struggling Elite League outfit Eastbourne Eagles embark on a series of five matches in eight days against Ipswich at Arlington Stadium on Monday night.

And if the Witches cast their spell, the Sussex side could be staring down the barrel for the remainder of the season.

Eagles go to Ipswich for the return on Thursday before visiting Oxford next Friday, then have home and away matches against Belle Vue on the Saturday and following Monday.

It's a big ask of the team in their current form to get much out of the three away fixtures, which puts extra pressure on them to perform at Arlington, where they have already been beaten twice in the league.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook remains upbeat about his side's ability to get on the right track and reach the play-offs by finishing in the top five.

"I'm beginning to feel a lot happier about where we are. We showed a lot of heart against Peterborough. I think we are starting to get there, but obviously we are going into a crucial period for the club."

Cook singled out rookie Dane Ulrich Ostergaard for special mention after last week's victory over Peterborough.

"He has been a revelation when you take into account his lack of pedigree. There is a steely determination about him. He has been superb considering he hasn't had the advantage of coming into the team in one of the reserve positions."

Eagles were beaten 51-42 at Ipswich when the teams met earlier in the season in the Knockout Cup after battling back from 26-10 down after six races.

Ipswich turned down Eastbourne's request to run Monday's meeting as the second leg of the cup tie because they are likely to come to Arlington with a weakened team.

Their top rider, British champion and Grand Prix man Scott Nicholls, is a major injury doubt, while Danny Bird is unavailable.

The Witches have made an approach for Greg Hancock to ride as a guest in place of Nicholls, but Hancock is riding in the Czech Grand Prix tomorrow night, in Poland on Sunday and Sweden on Tuesday.

If neither Nicholls nor Hancock appears, the visitors will have to employ rider replacement.

On that score, the omens will be in Eastbourne's favour although they have doubts over Peter Ljung and Edward Kennett, both of whom missed Wednesday's match away at Peterborough.

Cook said: "A lot will probably depend on how Hans Andersen and Jesper Jensen ride for Ipswich. Neither has a particularly good record around Arlington, but both are having good seasons."

The match will also see the return to the Sussex track of Ipswich's long-serving talisman, Chris Louis, who made a surprise comeback this season after two years out of the sport.

Louis had not ridden since suffering serious head, neck and back injuries in crashes in 2001 and 2002 and had announced his retirement from racing to join the promotions team at Ipswich.