Ten points. That could be the magic figure which wins Eastbourne Eagles the cup.

The Sussex squad go into tomorrow night's final against Peterborough Panthers at Arlington Stadium bidding to win the knockout trophy for the first time in five years.

That is the gap both Eagles and current holders Peterborough see as the cut-off point ahead of the return leg.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook has set his sights on a ten-point lead from the home half of the tie.

"That is our target. It will not be a disaster if we don't reach that figure because this team functions as well away as it does at home, but I think that is a winning score."

Cook's opposite number, Phil Wing, has a similar take on tomorrow's Arlington showdown.

He is disappointed the decider will be away from Arlington but maintains he is not worried about staging the first leg.

"It would have been nice to be in a position to win the trophy in front of our own fans, but going there for the second leg means we can be cagey and play tacticals to protect any lead we take there."

Cook is upbeat about Eagles' chances despite the team failing to fire on all cylinders recently.

"We showed in our last home match against Coventry how poor we can be if we take our eye off the ball, but the way we came back was awesome.

"It is a dream come true to reach the cup final and be top of the league and into the play-offs, but this is where it all starts. We have not come this far to end up with nothing."

Eagles have already beaten Panthers three times this year, including a 46-44 win at Peterborough and a 64-26 trouncing, Eastbourne's biggest victory of the season, but that was way back in March and April.

A better indicator is the second round of Elite League fixtures which saw Eastbourne win 54-36 at home but lose 50-40 away.

The injury to star man Ryan Sullivan (broken collar-bone) is a massive blow to Peterborough, but his replacement, Lee Richardson, could be just as dangerous a rival for Eastbourne.

Piotr Protasiewicz looks a key man for the visitors.

Eagles have drafted in new Premier League champion Adam Shields to replace the injured Toni Svab.

The second leg at Peterborough will be on either October 8 or 9.

Eastbourne: Mark Loram, Stefan Andersson, Joe Screen, David Norris, Dean Barker, Savalas Clouting, Adam Shields.

Peterborough: Lee Richardson, Shane Parker, Sam Tesar, guest or rider replacement, Piotr Protasiewicz, Chris Harris, A. N. Other. The start is at 7.30.

Eastbourne last triumphed in the Knockout Cup in 1997 when they defeated Poole in the final.

Stefan Andersson was the star over the two matches with ten points at Poole and 13 in the home leg as Eagles sunk the Pirates without trace by 50 points in the most one-sided final in 33 years.

David Norris, who scored eight points in both matches, was the only other current Eastbourne rider in the side which won 49-43 at Poole and 67-23 at Arlington to complete a 116-66 aggregate victory.

The rest of the team were Martin Dugard, Stefan Danno and Alan Mogridge, while Gary Havelock and Ronnie Correy deputised for the injured Dean Barker.