Eastbourne will demand assurances from skipper Davey Watt over his fitness before they bring him back into their side.

Watt pulled out after just one complete race in his side’s 47-45 home reverse to Elite League leaders Wolverhampton on Saturday.

Veteran Peter Karlsson outfoxed the otherwise excellent Lewis Bridger to win a heat 15 re-run and give Wolves the 3-3 they needed to secure victory in another captivating contest at Arlington.

It was Eagles’ first home reverse in a season which had previously seen them take 15 points out of 15 on their own shale.

Bridger limped gingerly into the pits before the meeting and could not even complete the track walk as he struggled with a wound to his calf muscle sustained by a flying chain in last Monday’s win over Swindon.

Watt, whose wrist was damaged by the same bit of metalwork, suffered electrical problems at the start of heat one, ran a second in heat six and retired in heat ten, unable to keep hold of the bike.

He then withdrew from the meeting altogether and Wolves saw their chance, plundering a 5-1 in heat 13, where he should have gone with Lukas Dryml, to draw level having trailed 30-17.

A 4-2 led by Adam Skornicki edged them ahead in heat 14, then Karlsson got inside Bridger on bend two in the heat 15-re-run to finish the job after Freddie Lindgren had fallen and been excluded in the first staging.

Cruelly, Eagles were on a 4-2 and set to salvage a draw when the first running was stopped by referee Dale Entwhistle with Lindgren still down on the track.

Eastbourne were bitterly disappointed to let slip a meeting of which they seemed to be in command and much of their frustration centred on Watt’s contribution.

Promoter Bob Dugard said the decision not to track Adam Shields as guest was a managerial error.

Dugard revealed: “Davey rang me and said he was fit to ride but we had already got Adam Shields booked.

“That was a big mistake to go with Davey. We should have gone with our gut feeling.

“You cannot have a No. 1 who is unfit. We were apprehensive when Davey said he was fit but we thought we had to go with it.

“You don’t want to stop your rider earning money but, on the other hand, the end result was a disaster for us.

“We would have gone joint top of the league if we had won, although we might get our own back when we go to Wolverhampton with a full strength team.”

Watt now seems to be over his recent groin injury but, asked how serious his wrist problem was, Dugard said: “It’s serious from the club’s point of view.

“We need proof he is fit before we put him in again because we cannot afford another slip-up like this.

“It’s very disappointing when you know you should have won if you had made the right choice of rider.”

Eagles’ problems do not end there.

David Norris is now expected to miss a month after suffering third degree burns to an arm but Eagles are happy to use rider-replacement in his absence.

Lukas Dryml took a knock when crashing out of heat 11 and Simon Gustafsson is recovering from a broken collarbone.

It all looked so good as, with Bridger and Dryml in superb form, they opened a healthy lead.

The improving Ricky Kling chipped in from reserve, his win in heat eight coming ahead of a superb battle for second place between Bridger and fellow teen hotshot Tai Woffinden, won by the home rider with a sublime pass tight to the fence.

But that 5-1 was as good as it got for the hosts as Lindgren came out for double points in the next race.

Wolves had a 6-3, two 5-1s and two 4-2s in the next five heats to lead 44-42 with one to go.

Cameron Woodward, hero of the previous meeting against Swindon, touched the tapes when Eagles needed him to win heat 14 and ended up chasing in vain from a 15-metre handicap.

Woodward borrowed Watt’s bike for heat 15 but, like Bridger, had no answer to Karlsson’s move on the inside line.

Meanwhile, Lewis Bridger overcame a slow start to reach the semi-finals of the World Under-21 Championships.

The Eastbourne star opened with two third places in yesterday’s qualifying meeting at Rye House before adding three wins to go through with 11 points in fourth place.

The top six qualified for semi-finals to be staged in Hungary and Sweden next month.