Nicki Pedersen has nothing to fear from his biggest critic when the two rivals lock horns at Arlington Stadium tonight.

That is the view from Eastbourne Eagles boss Jon Cook as his team prepare to tackle reinforced Peterborough Panthers before the Sky cameras (7.30pm).

Sam Ermolenko, who combines media commitments with a job riding in the No. 2 spot for Peterborough, has been outspoken in his criticism of Pedersen's riding style in recent weeks.

The pair are set to lock horns in heat 11 as Pedersen looks to help Eagles bounce back from a home defeat by Coventry Bees in their last outing.

But Cook said: "Nicki will rise above it. I'll be surprised if he's worried about trying to beat Sam.

"He will be more worried about racing against Peter Karlsson.

"The argument over how Nicki rides is one of the big debates ripping through speedway at the moment and all the protagonists will be there tonight."

The real spark, though, is provided by Eagles' urgent need for points after their recent defeat by the Bees.

Cook said: "The spotlight is on us to make it up to our supporters after a terrible performance.

"Peterborough have got a quality line-up. The first time they came here I thought we were fortunate to win by 11.

"The second time was when we beat them in the cup and it was our best performance of the year so far.

"This time it's a TV meeting and that always makes a difference.

"It makes it far more difficult to get into the flow of the meeting. "The schedule is different because of the advertising breaks. You need to ignore that and get on with the job in hand.

"We've had three rain-offs and a home defeat by Coventry recently and that leaves us looking pretty vulnerable.

"We took Coventy to the penultimate heat though, even when we were off our game, so that means there is no reason why we won't get our form back.

"The league will open out in the coming weeks. It will only take a couple more results for Coventry and they will pull Poole back.

"I'm still more than confident but we need an immediate response from our riders."

David Norris is not expected to make his comeback tonight but is eyeing the home clash with Oxford on Saturday.

Richard Hall, though, could finally make his Eagles debut, six weeks after signing.

The ink was hardly dry on Hall's Elite League deal with Eastbourne when he broke his hand riding for Sheffield in the Premier League.

Eagles see the 20-year-old Yorkshireman as a long-term project and will expect him to turn out for them and Sheffield next summer.

Cook said: "A lot of clubs were after Richard but he had set his heart on riding for Poole or Eastbourne after what people told him about the tracks.

"He snapped our hand off when we phoned him.

"When he does ride, we will not be expecting any great points return straight away. It will be the start of a relationship."

Ulrich Ostergaard, called up for last Monday's abortive trip to Peterborough, is not allowed to ride for Eagles when Steen Jensen and Hall are available.