Cameron Woodward admits he should not have ridden when Eastbourne saw their perfect home record ruined by King’s Lynn.

Now the Eastbourne skipper is ready to help his side put things right when Peterborough, minus Nicki Pedersen, visit Arlington tonight (7.30pm).

Woodward has proved his recovery from arm, leg and back injuries by riding in Germany and Suffolk and has been further encouraged by clinching a deal in Poland as well as a new engine from sponsors.

He admits Eagles have a point to prove before the Sky Sports cameras after that home defeat.

Woodward said: “We lost and I was terrible. I shouldn’t have ridden but my dream was to help Eastbourne, prove I was fit and ride in the longtrack GP qualifier the next day.

“I pulled out of the longtrack in the end and I wasn’t sure whether to ride anywhere last week.

“But I went over to Germany to do what they call the All Round Cup, which is speedway on Saturday and longtrack on Sunday.”

Despite five wins out of six in speedway and nothing but top-two finishes in longtrack, a novel scoring system saw Woodward finish third overall.

But he said: “I was glad I went.

“Under any other scoring system I would won it but the good thing was I felt fit and I was winning races.”

A change in the conversion rate between Elite and Premier League averages allowed Woodward to guest for Ben Barker, who was in the British semi-final, when Plymouth went to Ipswich, where he took 14 points from a possible 18.

He said: “I hope to get more Premier League meetings.

“It was really good. It seemed to be so much more relaxed than riding for Eastbourne in the Elite League. Everyone was talking to everyone and I think I took a lot of pressure off myself.”

Although Woodward’s longtrack GP ambitions for next year are over, he plans to use this season to gain more experience in the sport and try again next year.

His speedway diary will include meetings in the Polish third tier from next month after agreeing to sign for Lublin when the transfer window opens on June 1.

He is being supplied by a new engine for Eastbourne, prepared by highly-rated tuner Marcel Gerhard, thanks to sponsors Coastline Posters.

The new machinery will not be ready for tonight and what the skipper admits is a big meeting against Panthers, despite Pedersen’s withdrawal after a crash in Poland yestrday.

Lee Richardson, the Lakeside skipper who tends to be almost unbeatable at Arlington when on song, takes his place.

The absence of Pedersen, a former Eastbourne hero, is a major disappointment but the meeting still has significance.

Woodward said: “It was a real shame what happened to us against King’s Lynn but I can’t bear all the fault for that. We had three riders missing.”

Simon Gustafsson comes into Eagles’ first meeting in 16 days on a high.

Gustafsson, one of three riders to miss that defeat to King’s Lynn due to international commitments, won all five races in his World Under-21 Championship qualifier at Malmo, Sweden on Saturday. Timo Lahti scored four points and was eliminated.

Eagles: Pedersen, Dryml, Gustafsson, Bridger, Kylmakorpi, Lahti, Woodward.

Peterborough: Richardson, Sundstrom, Gomolski, Buczkowski, Batchelor, Kosciuch, North.