Kelvin Tatum, speedway's man for all seasons, joins Eastbourne Eagles' push for Elite League glory tomorrow night.

The Sussex outfit, who will be without three of their title-chasing squad, have drafted in the multi-talented Tatum for their match against King's Lynn at Arlington Stadium.

It signals the start of a crucial five-day period for Eastbourne, who then go to Belle Vue on Monday and visit fellow high-flyers Coventry for a live Sky TV clash on Wednesday.

Eagles go into the battle with King's Lynn, which boss Jon Cook describes as a potential banana skin, without Dean Barker, Toni Svab and Stefan Andersson.

Barker and Svab are involved in this weekend's world championship semi-finals in Denmark and the Czech Republic, while Andersson sustained a hand injury riding in Sweden on Tuesday.

To add to Eastbourne's concerns, skipper Joe Screen, who would have missed last Sunday's rained-off match against Poole, will not be 100 per cent fit after dislocating a thumb in a fall during the British Grand Prix.

Cook is well aware that come this time next week Eagles could well have been knocked off their perch.

A revitalised Belle Vue were only beaten by ten points at Eastbourne a fortnight ago, while Coventry won 45-44 at Arlington earlier in the season. If that happens, Eagles, pace-setters for most of the season, could be chasing top spot in the second half of the season.

With the cup clash against Wolverhampton in two weeks' time sandwiched between two more Grand Prix weekends and another away trip to Oxford to come in the meantime, the next league action at Arlington is not until mid-July.

It's not the first time Eastbourne have turned to Tatum in their hour of need. The three-times world long-track champion and one of the most capped England speedway riders from Horsham has answered the call from Eagles on several occasions in the past and is looking forward to producing another rescue act.

"I'm chuffed about being asked to ride. I know the track pretty well, and I'm going to give it my best shot and hope to do a decent job for them."

Eastbourne: Mark Loram, David Norris, Joe Screen, rider replacement, Kelvin Tatum, Savalas Clouting, Adam Shields.

King's Lynn: Nicki Pedersen, Tom Madsen, guest or rider replacement, Travis McGowan, Sebastian Ulamek or rider replacement, Freddie Eriksson, Emil Kramer. The start is at 7.30.