A rider who has never won a race for Eastbourne Eagles could be a key factor in the club's push for the Elite League title.

Steen Jensen goes into tomorrow night's crucial clash with play-off rivals Oxford at Arlington Stadium on the back of four no-pointers against Swindon last week.

He also fired blanks in three races on his previous home appearance and has managed only one point in 11 rides at the Sussex track against Arena Essex on his debut in June.

For all that, Eastbourne want to keep faith with the 19-year-old Danish youngster, whose progress has not been helped by an ankle injury which interrupted his fledgling Eagles career.

His best efforts have been away, where his three points at Peterborough were vital in helping Eastbourne gain a draw and at Coventry last week when he scored in all his races and netted a paid six-point return in a 50-45 win.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook said: "We know he can do it, but he hasn't made a start at home. We are getting him over for a practice ahead of this week's meeting to see if we can put that right. He was strong at Coventry, but his form at Arlington has been poor."

Jensen's present predicament is increased by the fact he is occupying the graveyard slot at No. 2 where he is pitched against some of the top riders, but Eastbourne are banking on a contribution from him against the Silver Machine outfit.

The visitors will be favourites to lift the bonus point after defeating Eastbourne by eight points at Oxford and only going down by one point at Arlington earlier in the season.

Eagles were fortunate to win 47-46 after Oxford's commanding eight-point lead at halfway was virtually wiped out by an 8-1 from David Norris and Adam Shields.

What Eastbourne cannot afford is to drop all three points as they chase third place in the league table. Eagles have two more must-win matches after tomorrow night, at home again to Swindon and away to Coventry, and Cook believes they need to take eight out of nine points on the run-in to finish behind Poole and Wolverhampton and in front of Ipswich.

Eastbourne: David Norris, Steen Jensen, Joonas Kylmakorpi, Adam Shields, Nicki Pedersen, Sebastian Tresarrieu, Edward Kennett.

Oxford: Rider replacement, Travis McGowan, Ryan Fisher, Rafal Dobrucki, Greg Hancock, Jonas Davidsson, Niels-Kristian Iversen.