Lewis Bridger took pride of place as Eagles met the media yesterday.

At least, he did for a few seconds before captain Dean Barker playfully put him in his place.

Bridger took a seat on the bike used as a centrepiece of the official team shot.

But Barker told him: "You should be kneeling down there at your age."

Fellow veteran David Norris added: "We can have a laugh at Lewis now but give it a few weeks and he'll be running rings around us."

Eagles are quietly confident they can make a challenge for playoff success and a bitterly cold morning at Arlington was not going to dampen that enthusiasm. Even for a shivering Adam Shields, who admitted he had spent the winter complaining about being too hot in his native Australia.

Barker said: "It's freezing, a lot of people have got colds but this is a good opportunity to test equipment.

"The boys can get stuck into some practice but I think I'm going home to bed.

"I'm definitely looking forward to the season, though. I can see a lot of us putting a fair bit on our averages.

"I think Adam and myself can improve. We missed David Norris, who's a key rider in our team, last year. Hopefully he has got his problems sorted out.

"And we've got Lewis Bridger. The guy's all action. It's like someone starting a new job. You always get the mick taken out of you.

"But Lewis is a youngster with an old head on his shoulders already."

You could hardly keep Bridger off the track yesterday.

Diehard fans also watched as Nicki Pedersen tuned up for what he hopes to be a world championship season. And Brent Werner reacquainted himself with the Arlington race lines.

Eagles go to Arena Essex in a two-leg challenge tonight, with the return at Arlington tomorrow (7.30pm).

The Elite League opener is at Belle Vue on Monday and the first home league action sees Oxford, with world champion Tony Rickardsson, visit a week tomorrow.

A tie-up with the local council means meetings will be advertised around Eastbourne.

In return, Eagles will publicise the attractions of Eastbourne, hoping to tempt visiting fans to make a weekend of it by the sea.

That agreement will really kickin during the summer season, by which time Eagles could do with being near the top of the table.

Promoter Jon Cook said: "The plan every season is to be up there and most years we've managed it.

"We've had a lot of injuries in the last couple of years but we've still kept going."