Eastbourne Eagles' boss Jon Cook this week revealed he has signed six riders in the last couple of weeks ... but none of them can ride for the club!

He explained: "All of the riders involved would like to ride for us, but for various reasons none of them is available to come into the team now.

"It's hugely frustrating, but that's the way it is. They have all agreed contracts, we have deals with the clubs involved and work permits where they are needed, but at the moment it's a no go situation."

The riders include world long-track champion Kelvin Tatum, former Eastbourne rider Roman Povazhny, from Russia, and Poland's Tomasz Bajerski.

Cook won't reveal the names of the other three. "I don't want to alert other teams to the fact they are available."

Cook's attempts to strengthen his team are currently being blocked by a combination of restrictions on points averages, injuries and international commitments.

All that could change in the next two weeks, which will increase the pressure on the present Eastbourne riders as they go into Sunday's clash with Coventry at Arlington.

Cook kept the team behind in the dressing room for a clear the air meeting after last week's lack-lustre showing against Ipswich which saw Eagles crash to their heaviest home defeat for two years.

But he backed away from publicly criticising his riders.

"The fans have to bear in mind that speedway riders only get paid on results, and no one enjoys losing.

"It was a bad night at the office, and when things are going badly there is nowhere on a speedway track for individuals to hide."

Despite all the transfer activity behind the scenes, Cook thinks the answer lies with the current team.

"I still believe we made the right decision when we picked the seven riders at the start of the season. They know what is expected of them, but there is no consistency in the team at the moment.

"That is a problem which has to be sorted out, and the fact that I now have options on half a dozen other riders means there is no complacency at this club."

The Eastbourne boss sees Sunday's match as a meeting of the two great under-achievers in the league.

While Eagles were losing by ten points to Ipswich, Coventry suffered an even worse upset, going down at home by 12 points to Oxford.

Yet before the campaign started, Coventry were installed by the bookies as favourites to lift the title.

With American ex-world champions Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock spearheading their challenge, they were expected to be the team everyone had to beat.

That myth was exploded almost straight away when Poole went to Coventry and won, and since then Eastbourne and now Oxford have also stung the Bees on their own track.

Said Cook: "It's been an amazing season so far, and on our day we are every bit as good or as bad as anyone else.

"When the shake-down comes, we are not out of it, but you can't afford to keep dropping points at home and still mount a challenge."

Eastbourne will be without Joonas Kylmakorpi for the next two weeks because of Nordic championship and world cup commitments. Former Coventry man Shaun Tacey, now with Arena Essex, takes his place on Sunday.

Eastbourne: Martin Dugard, Brent Werner, Dean Barker, Stefan Andersson, David Norris, Marcus Andersson, Shaun Tacey.

Coventry: Greg Hancock, rider replacement, 1Lee Richardson, Andreas Jonsson, Billy Hamill, Ritchie Hawkins, Stuart Robson.

Sunday's match starts at 5.30.