Eastbourne have been told they cannot afford a hat-trick of home defeats.

The Fineprint Eagles look to round off a bad week on an upbeat note with their first SGB Championship points tonight.

They can open their account with a home win over Berwick Bandits (7.30pm).

And the fallout could be considerable if they fail to deliver Eagles’ young hotshot Tom Brennan suffered a triple fracture of the right leg and possible lung damage after crashing during last Saturday’s 45-44 home defeat by Glasgow.

Concern over the 17-year-old overshadowed a week in which they then went down 54-36 at Somerset.

Eastbourne also lost 45-44 in their other home league fixture so far this term, their first back in professional speedway, when Leicester nicked the points on the final bend.

So head of speedway Jon Cook is adamant they cannot let more points pass them by.

Cook told the Argus: “We have come so far in a short period of time.

“We have now lost two home matches and we cannot afford to make it three “We have now got to get the wind back in our sails.

“Tom is a massive part of what we do and the way we work.

“In many ways he epitomises what we are all about as a club.

“His absence is something we have got to come to terms with at every level.”

Cook was stinging in his criticism of the team immediately after Glasgow had taken the three points last Saturday.

At that stage, the full extent of Brennan’s injures was not clear, although it was fairly obvious he faced a significant lay-off.

The message between the lines seemed to be that more personnel changes were possible if things did not pick up quickly.

Kyle Newman has since been signed as replacement for Brennan, whose flying start to the season meant he was about to move into the main body of the team.

Newman travelled to Somerset on Thursday to meet his new colleagues and then get some laps in after heat 15.

He was also due for a practice session at Redcar last night before heading south to make his Eagles debut.

But it is likely the threat of further changes remains if Eagles do not get their act together.

Perspective is important. Key figures at the club recognise they have been very close to winning both home fixtures against two sides tipped to contend for honours this season.

Richard Lawson lost a footrest in the final few yards against Leicester, allowing the visitors through for a 5-1 and the win.

Eagles would probably have beaten Glasgow had Brennan, their top scorer on the night, not come a cropper. But they also threw away points which would have seen them through, even with Brennan’s sickening fall.

Eagles have yet to pick up a match point after five fixtures.

They have, admittedly, faced three of the tracks many tip to make up the final top four.

The fourth member of that powerful quartet, Sheffield, are at Arlington next Saturday.

Which makes the visit of Kevin Doolan and Berwick one of real significance to the Arlington outfit.

Joint team manager Trevor Geer said: “Yes, riders are under pressure but that’s when we look to them to deliver.”

“The secret is to learn from the setbacks and put those mistakes right. That’s what we are doing, both on and off track.”

Eastbourne: Edward Kennett, Ben Morley, Kyle Newman, Lewi Kerr, Richard Lawson, Alfie Bowtell, Georgie Wood.

Berwick: Aaron Summers, Jye Etheridge, Kevin Doolan, Dany Gappmaier, Niokolaj Busk Jakobsen, Jordan Jenkins, Leon Flint.