Dean Barker is set to take over as the Eastbourne Eagles captain.

Barker has led Eagles in their last two matches and will captain the team again in tomorrow night's Knockout Cup tie against Peterborough even if current skipper David Norris is passed fit to ride.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook said: "I think David wants to get back to concentrating on riding, and Dean did a great job at Peterborough, so it's a move which we might make permanent."

Cook will not know until a few hours before the decisive second leg at Arlington Stadium whether Norris will be in the Eastbourne line-up for the return clash against the Panthers.

Norris missed the first encounter, which Peterborough won 56-37, and Monday's Elite League meeting with Ipswich, which was aborted after just one race because of the weather. He is still suffering from the effects of a crash at Swindon more than three weeks ago when he suffered concussion.

Barker, 34, has spent most of his career at Arlington after making his debut for Eagles in 1986, a month after his 16th birthday, and needs just 31 points to reach 4,000 points in the top flight.

An England international, he rode for Great Britain in the 2003 World Cup. He returned to the club this year after spending last season on loan to Arena Essex.

Cook believes the tie is far from over, despite Eastbourne having to chase a 19-point deficit going into tomorrow night's fixture.

"I said after we lost at Peterborough that we only had half a chance, but I think we have more than half a chance now because we will not have Joonas Kylmakorpi riding against us."

Former Eastbourne rider Kylmakorpi, a dangerous opponent round Arlington, will be missing because he is involved instead in a world long-track meeting at the weekend.

His place will be taken by Jon Armstrong, a second division rider with Mildenhall, who is likely to find himself out of his depth.

Cook said: "We've got a lot to make up, and we need to get among them early on. But if we are six to eight points up after four heats, then I reckon we are in with a chance.

"I'm not worried about them being able to use tactical rides. We did it at Peterborough and got a 7-1 and a 5-2. As far as I am concerned, the sooner they are in a position to use a tactical the better it is for us."

The visitors have plenty of experience in the shape of Peter Karlsson, Sam Ermolenko and the Dryml brothers, Ales and Lukas, who has begun to find his form after a barren spell at Oxford at the start of the season.

Any clash between Ermolenko and Eastbourne's Nicki Pedersen is likely to be in the spotlight after Cook's comments in his programme notes for the Ipswich match.

Cook branded Ermolenko's criticism of Pedersen's style of riding while commentating for Sky TV as "one sided and unfair."

Cook added: "Everyone jumps on the bandwagon and assumes Nicki must be guilty, but I'm confident that over a season Ermolenko will be excluded more times than Nicki.

"Nicki is hard in the first turn. It's called the will to win. It's just that some riders have more will than others."

So does Cook expect the two former world champions to be at each other's throats?

"Sam Ermolenko is probably the last true superstar of speedway in terms of the old style, but I don't think he will get within half a lap of Nicki."

Eagles, who have not been beaten at home since Good Friday, will use rider replacement for Norris if he fails a late fitness test. Otherwise they expect to track an unchanged team.

Eastbourne have another TV date at Coventry on Monday and complete a spell of three matches in five days away to Arena next Wednesday.