Jon Cook today challenged his Eastbourne Eagles to overcome the odds by staying unbeaten at home for the rest of the season.

Eagles host Wolverhampton Wolves tonight (8pm) with their sights firmly set on a play-off place after Monday's win against Ipswich extended their run of good form at Arlington to just one defeat in almost five months.

The Eagles promoter reckons perfection on home ground for the rest of the season will clinch a play-off berth in the skybet Elite League, no matter what happens away.

But that will be difficult to achieve with David Norris, Adam Shields and Nicki Pedersen all missing for the visit of a Wolves side who are undefeated at Arlington for two and a half years.

Norris could miss the rest of the season as he continues to struggle with concussion while Shields broke his collarbone riding in Sweden on Tuesday and Pedersen is on Grand Prix duty Domination Cook said: "I want us to show our domination at home and stay undefeated for the rest of the season. That in itself should mean a play-off place.

"We will be up against it tonight because David, Adam and Nicki are three key riders. David had to pull out after one race in Sweden during the week and is obviously not right while Adam will be out for a minimum of four weeks."

To make matters worse reserve Trevor Harding is ruled out for the rest of the season after breaking his wrist in Monday's spectacular 58-38 triumph over the Witches.

As a result Chris Harris has been called in from Coventry to fill one of the gaps while Eagles will be operating rider replacement for one of the others.

The third free slot is taken by former world champion Mark Loram who was a popular member of the Eagles team before heading to Arena-Essex when new regulations meant he and Pedersen could no longer ride for the same team.

Cook said: "I brought Mark back tonight because of his popularity and because, with it being Grand Prix weekend, there are only a couple of quality riders who can do a good job going around Eastbourne.

"Mark is one, Peter Karlsson is the other, and Peter is riding for Wolverhampton."

Loram, who scored 13 points from six heats on Arena's last visit to Arlington, is up for the challenge.

He said: "Eastbourne is a fun track to ride and I get on well with everyone down there. It's a good racing track and even better to ride when you're in the home team.

"Dean Barker is a particularly good mate of mine. I grew up racing with him and I've known him for more than 20 years.

"We used to do junior grass tracks together all over the south east when we were about 12."

Barker reckons his old mate can do a good job filling in for double-figure man Pedersen.

The Eagles skipper said: "Mark's a very good all-round racer. He's got a lot of ability on the bike. Whatever happens, he should be in the points."

Wolves head south with an eight-point lead in the battle for the bonus point. They have struggled in the league but Loram knows the threat they can pose. Wolves' 60-36 success at Purfleet was one of the league's most eye-catching results this season.

Since then, the Monmore men have been weakened by the loss of Grand Prix star Mikael Max with a broken thigh and wrist.

Cook, though, warned: "We have not beaten them at home in the last five meetings so we know how tough it is going to be. Their track is very similar to Arlington which means home advantage is not so important and they are one of those teams who seem to hold a sign over us."