Eastbourne Eagles insist David Norris is under no pressure to make a quick return to the Arlington track.

Norris has scrapped plans for a test ride today and will be absent for Eagles' skybet Elite League B clash at home to Oxford Silver Machine tomorrow (7.30pm).

The 32-year-old international star has sat out the last four Eagles meetings while recovering from concussion suffered earlier in the season.

He also missed the British Championships and meetings for his Swedish team Vargarna, though a trio of recent postponements for the Eagles have worked in his favour.

He has now written off the next three Eastbourne outings but could be back for the Knockout Cup semi-final with Arena Essex a week tomorrow.

Norris also has the World Cup to aim for, having been named in the British team to race at Swindon on July 31.

He was back in the pits for Monday's win over Peterborough and told supporters: "I'm trying to race on Saturday.

"I've had every therapy, every scan. I know some people think I'm going mad but the club have been great to me and I appreciate everyone's support."

Promoter Jon Cook retains that supportive stance, even though Norris has since been put on a course of muscle relaxants, which prohibit any form of driving.

Eagles will operate rider-replacement tomorrow, at Wolverhampton on Monday and at Swindon on Thursday.

Cook said: "We are both targeting the cup semi-finals with Arena as a possible comeback but the chances for that have to be 50-50 at best.

"Personally for David this is an absolute nightmare and team-wise we will just have to knuckle down and weather the storm."

Cook admitted: "The rider-replacement points we have been getting in David's absence have not been good enough but that's not a reflection on David.

"We won't be pressurising him to return. David's timescale is set by him and no one else."

Nicki Pedersen has scored wins while replacing Norris in each of the three recent home meetings.

Otherwise, the rider-replacement haul has been a second, paid second and third against Belle Vue, a third and two fourths in the humbling by Coventry and two paid seconds and a third last Monday, when Peterborough were beaten 48-42.

That success on an upbeat evening at Arlington has got Eagles buzzing again as they chase a top four spot. They expect to give Richard Hall his long-awaited debut tomorrow after a hand injury.

Oxford have struggled in the league but the tight confines of their Cowley track means they should feel at home at Arlington.

Veteran Americans Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill are perennial threats, new Russian Renat Gafurov will be watched with interest and Niels-Kristian Iversen is improving all the time.

For Eagles, though, this is a contest they dare not lose after Monday's boost.