Simon Gustafsson is hoping a recent upturn in form can take him all the way to the Swedish under-21 title.

The Eastbourne Eagles reserve enjoyed a successful pre-World Cup week, totalling 23 paid points in three meetings starting at home to Belle Vue.

His 4+2 (4) that afternoon was followed by paid-eight as Indianerna shocked Dackarna in the Elitserien, then 8+1 (5) in Eagles' 50-40 defeat of makeshift Coventry last Saturday.

Gustafsson also qualified for the final of the senior Swedish Championship recently.

That under-21 crown, though, is top of his agenda in the remaining weeks of the season.

The 18-year-old said: "I was fourth in the under-21s last year on my home track at Kumla.

"I thought I would win that meeting. I hoped to win and I was leading all the way to the final heat.

"Then I got pushed a bit by Ricky Kling and fell off and I was excluded from that one. I'm really hungry for this year to show them what I can do. It's at Avesta this year, which is a smaller track. It's not too grippy."

Gustafsson also has a date as reserve at the world under-21 final and has appeared to be over-stretched by commitments at times this season.

Eagles fans will hope that is behind him now, though, as he starts to show signs of fulfilling potential that most observers always felt would be unlocked at some stage.

Granted, Eastbourne's last three home fixtures have not been the toughest, but the fact he has been paid for 22 points from 13 races has to be good news.

Perhaps more significantly, he has won 11 of his 12 head-to-heads with opposing reserves in those three meetings.

Team boss Trevor Geer has put the improvement down to his young rider somehow finding the aggression that seemed to be lacking.

He certainly came up with a couple of key rides against Coventry at stages when the Bees looked like getting back into the match.

First came a terrific start off gate three, going as reserve switch for James Brundle, to win heat eight by some distance.

Referee Chris Gay had no hesitation awarding the race after putting on the red lights when Lewis Bridger got into trouble on the second bend and that 3-3 ensured Eagles maintained their four-point lead.

The young Swede spared Bridger's blushes again in heat 13. That was the race for which Bridger had been earmarked for a rider-replacement outing until getting injured in a crash with Steve Johnston.

Gustafsson took the ride and was on a paid win until the final lap, when Henning Bager got past him.

Still the 4-2 there, with Chris Schramm back in last place, eased Eagles into a more comfortable 42-36 lead with just two races left.

Gustafsson then went straight back out and got away superbly from gate one, with skipper Cameron Woodward coming around the outside to complete a match-clinching 5-1.

Although fellow reserve Brundle struggled, he came up with a paid second in heat 12 ahead of Stanislaw Burza to ensure a 3-3 which kept Eastbourne four points in front.

Woodward, leading the side in the absence of the top three, appreciated the efforts of the two reserves He said: "Simon did well and so did James when the track got back to what it was the previous week.

"He was flying again then, all over the back of Bjarne (Pedersen). There are definitely positive signs. We have got two weeks of rest and recovery now."

Gustafsson is looking forward to watching the World Cup on TV during the lay-off, when he should get a sneak preview of how some of his rivals at the senior national final are going.

He got a good idea of how fast Freddie Lindgren can be when the Wolves captain starred as guest for Coventry last Saturday. Andreas Jonsson and Peter Karlsson will also be among the favourites.

Gustafsson said: "I qualified last year but I didn't have a good meeting and was 12th. Top ten would be good but it's a tough meeting."