The Eastbourne Eagles riders go on trial against Poole Pirates at Arlington Stadium tomorrow night.

Boss Jon Cook slammed his team's performance at Poole on Monday as "woeful" and warned: "We have to put it right quickly, or riders will find themselves out the door."

Cook had confidently predicted Eagles would raise their game next time around after being blown away 56-34 at Poole in the Knockout Cup on what he described as "a bad day at the office" on Good Friday.

As it turned out, it was an even worse day at the office as the Pirates sunk the Sussex squad without trace, 60-30, to inflict Eastbourne's worst defeat for two years.

Cook said: "We have made it clear that if riders aren't performing and we find ourselves scrapping for a play-off place, then we will make changes, and no one's position is safe."

Realistically, Cook says he always accepted Eagles would be hard pressed to take the bonus point from the home and away matches against the Elite League title favourites, and that tomorrow's clash was simply about winning and getting two points.

In that sense, nothing has changed and Eastbourne start at Arlington on a level playing field. What he didn't bargain for was to see his team humiliated in another Bank Holiday massacre.

"We were pathetic. The only one of our riders to come out of it with any credibility was Dean Barker. And that isn't good enough."

Barker scored seven and guest Lee Richardson ten. The rest managed just 13 points between them, the most disappointing return being skipper Joe Screen's three points.

Eagles have now failed to beat Leigh Adams in 13 races this season, while Tony Rickardsson's only defeat in 13 came at the hands of the now sidelined Mark Loram.

It's no surprise the Pirate big guns have been firing on all cylinders, but if Eastbourne are to get their own league campaign back on track they have to get among Poole's lesser lights.

They did that when they led 40-32 in the cup second leg before the match was abandoned with Loram on his way to hospital with a double fracture of the left arm.

Make no mistake, it will be a totally different ball game at Arlington, a point conceded by Poole team manager Neil Middleditch, and the chances are the fans are in for a thriller.

Middleditch said: "Deano (Dean Barker) and Floppy (David Norris) are masters around Arlington, so it will be tough for us at Eastbourne."

Ominously, though, Middleditch, who is also the current Great Britain boss and a former Eastbourne rider, believes there are bigger and better things to come from the Pirates.

"Some of the team are under-achieving and we might have to do something about that. I think there is definite improvement to come from our middle-order riders."

While Poole have begun to motor after suffering a shock home defeat in their first match against Coventry, Middleditch is not taking anything for granted.

"It's a long season and there are some tough teams in the league. Everyone is capable of winning somewhere."

Poole took something of a gamble this season by bringing in Adams to link up with Rickardsson. The move could have left the team top heavy, but so far the exceptional form of first-year reserves David Ruud and Davey Watt has acted as a match-winning balance.

Watt, who was paid for ten points on Monday, was Middleditch's nomination for man of the match. "Davey was superb. It was his best display for us and a great result."

The bad news for Poole is that Watt, who has also done Eagles a couple of favours recently as a guest, won't be at Arlington tomorrow night because he has been claimed by Premier League side Kings Lynn.

Eastbourne, meanwhile, have shelved plans to bring back Peter Ljung because he is involved in tonight's Swedish world under-21 championship round.

Eastbourne: Jason Lyons, Dean Barker, David Norris, Joonas Kylmakorpi, Joe Screen, Adam Shields, Gary Stead.

Poole: Leigh Adams, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Lukas Dryml, Bjarne Pedersen, Tony Rickardsson, David Ruud, Andre Compton.

Tomorrow's start is at 7.30.