Eastbourne Eagles have dumped skipper Joe Screen to make way for world championship leader Nicki Pedersen.

The axe finally fell on Screen, the club's second most expensive signing, last night after two weeks of high-profile speculation in the wake of the Pedersen signing.

It means David Norris and Dean Barker keep their places in a revamped Eastbourne squad which will also include Scott Robson and Glenn Cunningham.

Eagles are banking on the dream duo of Pedersen and fellow Grand Prix star Mark Loram to galvanise their season and haul them back into contention for the Elite League title.

They will link up for the first time tomorrow night when Eastbourne are away to league leaders Poole and make their first home appearance against play-off rivals Wolverhampton at Arlington Stadium on Saturday.

As soon as the club snapped up British Grand Prix winner Pedersen, it was known Eagles could not track Screen, Norris, Barker and Loram in the same team because their combined averages would have put Eastbourne over the limit.

Team boss Jon Cook, who had agonised over the decision of who to drop, admitted it had been one of the toughest decisions he had ever had to make.

"It was very difficult, but in the end we have done what we believe is the right decision for Eastbourne Speedway Club."

Screen had always appeared the most vulnerable. Norris and Barker deserved to get the nod on current form, while any doubts over Loram's long-term fitness were effectively dispelled at the weekend.

Loram won two races in Saturday's Slovenian Grand Prix on his track comeback after three months out with a broken arm, beating Ryan Sullivan, Peter Karlsson and Mikael Max Karlsson, and also rode in Poland on Sunday.

Cook said: "If the rules had allowed us to give Mark another week off and delay his return to the team, we would probably have done that, but we didn't have that luxury because we had to declare our team for the next month before the match at Poole."

Screen, who cost Eagles £21,000 three years ago, is set to join Belle Vue, one of his former clubs, on loan for the rest of the season after Eastbourne's attempts to negotiate a short-term loan deal failed.

Cook explained: "We would have liked Joe to go on loan for a month, but no-one wants to do a deal on that basis because it would mean them bringing in a whole raft of changes for four weeks, and I can understand that."

Eastbourne are believed to have had approaches for Screen from Ipswich and another unnamed club as well as Belle Vue.

Cook added: "We are dealing with someone's livelihood here, so in fairness to Joe we will go along with his preferred choice of club, even it means him riding against us between now and the end of the season."

Norris will take over as captain of the new-look Eastbourne team. He led Eagles to the league title three years ago as stand-in skipper when Martin Dugard was injured.

World under-21 finalist Peter Ljung also loses his place in the shake-up and will be replaced by Robson and Cunningham under the doubling-up rule.

Robson, who rode for Eastbourne in 1998, is currently with Premier League Rye House, while Cunningham rides for Somerset.