Skipper Davey Watt admits he was mystified by the back injury which curtailed his battle with the best top two in the Elite League.

Watt top-scored for Eastbourne Eagles with ten points from four rides but it could not prevent title-chasing Wolverhampton enjoying a pretty comfortable 51-39 success at Arlington.

Freddie Lindgren and Peter Karlsson both went unbeaten by home riders and scored the commanding 5-1s in heats 13 and 15 which secured all four points for the impressive visitors.

Watt looked the best bet to threaten the two Swedes but admitted he was struggling with a back muscle problem from his first race, in which he beat Adam Skornicki and Tai Woffinden.

He revealed: “I came in after my first race and I had jarred my back. I could hardly get off my bike, I couldn’t pull my goggles off or anything like that.

“The doctor wasn’t very keen for me to continue but I felt I could do a bit more. I just needed some work done on it.

“I wanted to race and I felt the bikes were going well but I just couldn’t move properly on the bike.

“I gated in front of Freddie and in front of PK but I just couldn’t let the bike go enough to stay in front of them.”

Watt scored two of Eagles’ four heat wins as they slipped to a fourth defeat in their last five home meetings.

Their two race advantages included a 5-1 in heat ten for Lewis Bridger and Simon Gustafsson over Skornicki and Woffinden.

That reduced the deficit to 31-29 at the interval.

The other moment of home cheer came for new reserve Daniel Nermark, who won heat two in style for a home 4-2.

Nermark also gave Lindgren a real scare in heat 11.

The Eastbourne man eventually went down as he tussled for the lead on bend three and was disqualified, though Eagles were convinced the decision should have gone the other way.

Karlsson, who turns 40 in December, was superb and proved experience counts when he withstood a spirited onslaught by Gustafsson and Bridger, combined age 38, to win heat six.

Eagles manager Trevor Geer tipped Wolves to win the title but admitted: “Our gating was atrocious.”

Eagles: Watt 10 (4), Bridger 7+1 (5), Gustafsson 7+1 (5), Woodward 4+2 (4), Nermark 4+1 (4), Dryml 4 (4), Kling 3+1 (4).

Wolverhampton: Karlsson 14+1 (5), Lindgren 13+2 (5), Skornicki 8+1 (4), Klindt 7 (4), Woffinden 6+1 (4), Proctor 3 (5), Kerr 0 (3).