Eastbourne Eagles are banking on world champion Mark Loram to inspire them to their first Elite League win of the season at Arlington Stadium tonight.

Eagles, with only one point from their opening three matches, need a spark from somewhere against Ipswich or the alarm bells will be ringing with just a few weeks of the season gone.

Loram could be the trump card Eagles need when he guests for the Sussex squad in place of skipper Martin Dugard, who has been hit by a virus.

The inclusion of former world No. 1 Billy Hamill failed to do the trick at Oxford last night when Eagles suffered their third defeat in five attempts as they were beaten 47-43.

Hamill did his bit by top scoring with 14 points, and he received good support from Joe Screen and David Norris.

The in-form Screen fol-lowed up his 16 points at King's Lynn in midweek with a 12-point return, while Norris was paid for nine.

Eastbourne's problems are lower down the order.

New signings Joonas Kylmakorpi and Marcus Andersson are struggling to make an impact, and Brent Werner is lacking consistency. Crucially, reserves Werner and Andersson managed only one point between them last night.

Said Eastbourne boss Jon Cook: "It's too early to start panicking, but Ipswich is a must win match for us at this stage, otherwise we might have to admit we've not got it right."

Hamill and Dean Barker gave Eagles a good start with a 4-2 in the opening heat, but that was the only time the visitors were in front.

Hamill and Barker bagged another 4-2 in heat four, and Screen and Hamill scored spectacular victories in races 13 and 15, both beating Oxford's star man, Leigh Adams, and combining for 4-2 heat wins.

That was as good as it got, though, with the Cheetahs having the better of a tight affair.

Oxford: Leigh Adams 13, Brian Andersen 9, Ales Dryml 7, Lukas Dryml 6, Todd Wiltshire 5, Steve Johnston 5, Andrew Appleton 3.

Eastbourne: Billy Hamill 14, Joe Screen 12, David Norris 8, Dean Barker 5, Joonas Kylmakorpi 3, Marcus Andersson 1, Brent Wer-ner 0.