Eastbourne Eagles slumped to a 52-41 defeat at Coventry Bees last night as star rider Nicki Pedersen was forced to withdraw from the action.

Pedersen, who has been averaging more than ten points a meeting this season, was far below his best as he struggled to shake off the affects of a crash in Poland on Sunday.

Steen Jensen had to replace Pedersen in heat 13, consistently one of the Eagles' strongest this campaign, as the Dane could not continue.

Eagles manager Jon Cook said: "Nicki had a crash in Poland on Sunday which we didn't know about until today.

"He had a bruise on the side of the head and was still concussed. He was far from himself and that showed in his performance.

"He has been brilliant for us this season and there is no way he would have ridden third places if he was fit."

With David Norris not fully fit either, it was left to Davey Watt to produce another superb individual performance and keep the deficit down.

Cook added: "An 11-point defeat is not the end of the world and I am sure when we race them again with a fully fit team we will get the result.

"It was a disappointing defeat but another fantastic individual display by Watt."