Eastbourne Eagles fans should get their first sight of new Polish signing Adrian Miedzinski on Saturday night.

The Sussex club's "secret weapon" is in the line-up as Eagles take on Elite League rivals Peterborough Panthers at Arlington Stadium.

"Should" is the operative word, because Eastbourne boss Jon Cook has been driven up the pole this week as he attempted to put together a team to race three matches in four days.

Cook said: "We've had three riders injured, one who didn't show up and one who didn't want to ride for us. It's the worst rider crisis I have known at the club."

Miedzinski is the unnamed rider Eastbourne did a deal for six weeks ago. The move collapsed when his Polish club, Torun, refused to release him, and Eagles switched their attention to Pawel Hlib.

Hlib was due to make his debut last weekend but then went AWOL. Little wonder then that Cook wanted to keep Miedzinski's signing under wraps after reopening talks for the Polish teenager this week.

Cook said: "It was a case of believing it when I saw him. And that didn't happen until a few hours before the match at Poole."

What Cook, and the crowd at Poole on Wednesday night, saw suggests Eagles might have finally struck lucky with a rider from Poland after a series of transfer mishaps. "I suppose you could call him our secret weapon," said the Eagles boss.

Miedzinski, 19, scored three crucial points in Eastbourne's shock 49-46 win over the league leaders, beating the vastly experienced Poole trio of Magnus Zetterstrom, Matej Ferjan and Krzysztof Kasprzak.

The arrival of Miedzinski means that Eastbourne have finally admitted defeat in their efforts to keep Peter Ljung, who is now bound for rivals Swindon.

Adam Shields and Steen Jensen could both be surprise inclusions in the Eagles line-up for tomorrow night's match against Peterborough.

Shields, who it now seems escaped from a crash at Peterborough last Friday without a broken ankle, and Jensen, who sustained leg injuries in the same meeting, both face late fitness tests, but Cook is optimistic that Shields at least will ride.

Joonas Kylmakorpi, though, is definitely out. He attempted a comeback in Sweden on Tuesday against medical advice and suffered knee injuries in a crash on top of his broken collar-bone. The teams drew 48-48 at Peterborough, so the winners of tomorrow night's match will scoop the bonus point as well.

David Norris rides at No.1 now that a set of new averages has kicked in, and Eastbourne will use rider replacement at three for Kylmakorpi. If Jensen is missing, Eagles will have to book a guest from a lower league because Ulrich Ostergaard and Sebastian Tresarrieu are unavailable and Edward Kennett is not eligible.

The visitors should be at full strength with the return of Lee Richardson and Lukas and Ales Dryml, all of whom missed the match at Peterborough because they were riding in the Danish Grand Prix.

One-time Arlington junior Richardson usually stretches Eagles, but a thorn in Eastbourne's side could be former captain Gary Havelock, who was one of the stars of the win at Poole.

Havelock, riding as a guest for Shields, scored a paid 14 points and figured in three 5-1 heat wins in three rides with Norris and a match-clinching 3-3 in the final race when the Eastbourne pairing kept Grand Prix ace Ryan Sullivan at the back.

Eastbourne: David Norris, Adrian Miedzinski, rider replacement, Adam Shields, Nicki Pedersen, Steen Jensen, Andrew Moore.

Peterborough: Gary Havelock, Lukas Dryml, Henning Bager, Ales Dryml, Lee Richardson, Dariusz Sledz, Ricky Ashworth.

The start is at 7.30.