Eastbourne Eagles will go top of the Elite League if they beat Peterborough in tonight's live TV clash at Arlington Stadium.

Victory, plus the bonus point, will take the Sussex squad a point clear of title rivals King's Lynn with a match in hand.

Eagles have already beaten Peterborough, the defending league champions, three times this season, but Eastbourne boss Jon Cook expects an electric atmosphere for tonight's clash in front of the cameras.

"Every match now is like a cup final. It doesn't matter whether it is home or away at this stage of the season. Every time we win, its the equivalent of King's Lynn losing another match and vice versa.

"We have got to be totally switched on and not show mercy to anyone, but I'm sure the boys will be up for it. I reckon we'll have another big crowd, and we can't afford any slip-ups."

The highlight of the evening should be the head-to-heads between Eagles' skipper Martin Dugard and Ryan Sullivan, the man he beat to win the British Grand Prix.

Sullivan has been in brilliant form and top scored with 17 points from seven rides when Panthers were beaten 54-37 on their last visit to Arlington. His four wins included a first-heat victory over Dugard.

The Australian and Dugard won the Grand Prix semi-finals at Coventry last weekend, and Sullivan got the draw on his rival from the gate. Dugard, however, stormed past Sullivan, and the rest is history.

Peterborough were no back markers last time, despite being under strength, with David Howe scoring a shock win over Joe Screen, and Sam Tesar also getting in on the winning act.

This time, they will be even more dangerous with Peter Karlsson in their line-up. The hard-riding Swede is an Arlington track specialist and always gives Eastboume problems.

Karisson was missing last time because he was riding in the World Team Cup, and if he gets among the points in a big way then an Eagles win may not be routine.

The visitors are likely to be without Stefan Andersson, although they have named him in their line-up for tonight's match.

The former Eagle has not ridden since his latest brush with Dugard when he crashed into the fence and sustained a broken wrist.

Whether Andersson rides or not, the prospect of Dugard against Sullivan and Eagles moving into pole position in the title race should take the spotlight off the Dugard-Andersson situation.

Any hype surrounding their infamous clash last season ahead of tonight's match would be inappropriate, especially now that Dugard has let his actions on the track speak louder than anything else by beating the world's best riders at their own game on the Grand Prix stage.

Eastbourne: Martin Dugard, Dean Barker, David Norris, Paul Hurry, Joe Screen, Petri Kokko, Per Wester.

Peterborough: Ryan Sullivan, David Howe, Sam Tesar, Stefan Andersson, Peter Karlsson, Nigel Sadler, Brett Woodifield.

The start is at 7.30.

Eagles will be chasing their seventh away win of the season at Oxford tomorrow night Their next home match after tonight is not until August 19.