Stefan Andersson and Martin Dugard will bury the hatchet this weekend in a common cause. Fighting for East-bourne Eagles.

The Swedish star linked up with Eagles this week for the first time since the bust-up with the Sussex squad's skipper which rocked the speedway world.

Andersson, one of the most popular riders to pull on an Eastbourne race jacket in the last decade, was due to ride at Oxford last night, and he makes his Arlington re-turn tonight in the second leg of the Knockout Cup clash.

The former Nordic cham-pion last rode for Eagles in 1998, by which time he had figured in two cup-winning teams and the side which won the league title in 1995.

Andersson and Dugard were the best of pals, but what happened when the two clashed during a live TV meeting the year after put Ando out of speedway temporarily and nearly got Dugard banned for life.

Dugard strode into the pits after the pair had been involved in an on-track crash and almost sent Andersson into orbit with a right-hander.

Andersson was riding for Peterborough at the time, and there was no sign that the feud had ended nearly a year on when the teams met again at Arlington.

This time, Andersson sus-tained a broken wrist when he crashed into the boards in another incident involving Dugard.

Now Andersson is back, and Eastbourne boss Jon Cook is not ruling out the possibility of pairing him with Dugard as Eagles come to terms with the rest of the season without star asset Joe Screen.

Said Cook: "I wouldn't have any qualms about that. Just at the moment, I don't think it is the best use of our resources, but you never know."

Both Andersson and Dug-ard are insisting that what-ever bad blood there was between them has been spilt.

Explained Dugard: "There is no animosity. We are sharing the same workshop at Dean Barker's, we've had a chat and a laugh, and we're going out for a meal together."

Dugard thinks Andersson has a point to prove. "It wasn't his fault when he left Eastbourne. It was the law of averages. He hasn't had a great time since he rode for us, and I think he has some-thing to prove."

Andersson had no plans to ride in England this year, but the call from Eastbourne was one he couldn't resist.

"This is the only club I was prepared to come back for. I'd already said No to King's Lynn and Peterborough, but when Jon rang me it was a different matter. I thought 'Yeah, I want to do this.'

"I'm here for five meet-ings. Then we will see what happens after that. I'm excited about riding for East-bourne again. I was here for five years, and it feels like I'm coming home."

Andersson is playing down the spat with Dugard. "These things happen, and as far as I'm concerned it's dead and buried. It doesn't worry me anymore."

Andersson has only ridden in about half a dozen meet-ings so far this season, but he has league commitments in Sweden, Poland and Den-mark, which might make it difficult for him to stay with Eastbourne until the end of the year.

"I'm going to keep a bike in England, which will help a lot, and I will be doing the best I can for the team."

Cook would like nothing better than to see Andersson rattling up the points, but he maintains there is no pressure on him to fill Screen's boots.

"I have gone on record as saying it will probably take more than one rider to com-pensate for us losing Joe, but the win at Wolverhampton on Monday has given us every chance of getting back into the race for the title.

"We have the best away record in the league, and I think we have shown we have a touch of class. A lot of people were writing us off, but they couldn't be more wrong."