Dean Barker today backed his Eastbourne Eagles to complete an Arlington revenge mission and book their play-off place.

Tomorrow's skybet Elite League clash with play-off rivals Coventry Bees (7.30pm) is being touted as the meeting of the year at Arlington.

But it will lose that title if Eagles win and go on to clinch second place in the table.

That would set them up for a home tie against the third-placed team in the play-off semi-finals and ensure another night of drama at the Sussex track.

Third or fourth place would mean Eagles travel in the semis and fifth, which could still happen, would see them miss out altogether.

Throw in the matter of revenge for Coventry's win at Arlington in July,which was Eagles' only home defeat in their last 19 matches, and there is little wonder promoter Jon Cook reckons tomorrow's fixture will be a cracker.

Team captain Barker hopes to be back after missing last night's trip to Peterborough due to a trapped nerve in his neck.

He was one of several riders to have an off night when Scott Nicholls led Coventry to victory in Sussex.

Barker said: "It's a crucial meeting. They beat us here last time but a lot of riders weren't performing that well for us.

"I had a couple of dodgy rides but we've got the chance to make up for that. We need to pick up as many points as we can.

"I think we can win the meeting and I think we can get second spot. That defeat was a one-off."

Tomorrow's fixture concludes the regular league season at Arlington and results in the three remaining away meetings will dictate Eagles' starting point in both the play-offs and the Craven Shield.

The statisticians will tell you 76.9 per cent of Elite League matches this season have ended in home wins.

Barker, a veteran of the track, has not done the sums himself but he knows winning away is tough, though not impossible.

He said: "We've still got to go to Arena-Essex, which we enjoy, and Oxford, which is a similar track to Eastbourne. Then we've got Coventry.

"Going away in the play-offs would hold no fears for us but we would rather be at home."

Leaders Belle Vue and Coventry are the only teams winning away on anything like a regular basis. The Aces have won eight out of 18 away while the Bees have managed six out of 14.

Those figures compare well with play-off contenders Poole's three wins out of 16 and Peterborough's four out of 17.

For once, Cook could have a seven-man team at his disposal to defend home territory, providing Adam Shields safely negotiated his comeback from a broken collarbone at Peterborough last night and Nicki Pedersen's recovery from headaches goes as planned.

Eagles will not be at full strength though, unless there is an early postponement at Berwick.

Premier League outfit Kings Lynn have first call on Oliver Allen and his potential stand-in Troy Batchelor as they go north so Steen Jensen gets a chance to lay a few ghosts of his own.

Jensen has failed to score in six races in his two previous Eastbourne meetings, one of which was the defeat by Coventry.

Cook expects home engines to be revving up with even more gusto than usual in the pit lane tomorrow.

The Eagles boss admitted: "This is our biggest meeting of the season.

"We are both going for playoff places and second place is up for grabs.

"We can look over our shoulders and hope we aren't caught or we can look ahead and aim for second. If we aim for second place we won't have to look over our shoulders."