IPSWICH team boss Pete Simmons is hoping his team can cap a mixed week, with a full three-point haul at home to Eastbourne Eagles tonight.

IPSWICH team boss Pete Simmons is hoping his team can cap a mixed week, with a full three-point haul at home to Eastbourne Eagles tonight.

The Witches endured a torrid time at Wolverhampton on Monday, just 48 hours after a promising performance at Eastbourne’s Arlington Stadium on Saturday.

The two points picked up on the south coast got the Witches Elite League season off to a sound start. And if three more can be added tonight (the Witches need to win by six to get all three points), it will have been a good week.

“We need to make sure that we collect all three points on Thursday,” Simmons said.

“But we can’t afford to take anything for granted just because we drew at their place.

“Matej Zagar missed the meeting on Saturday, but he is back in their line-up this week and he is a Foxhall track specialist so we have to be really on the ball and I shall be looking for more consistency from our boys.”

Consistency, or lack of it, is already playing a key role in the Witches results this season.

Olly Allen, Danny King and to a lesser extent Robert Miskowiak, have all blown a bit hot and cold in the last seven days.

Miskowiak in particular has showed his capabilities with a thoroughly excellent performance at Eastbourne, coupled with two awful first two rides at Wolverhampton.

Allen is another who has yet to put a consistent meeting together, although at Wolves he looked as good as he has so far this season.

It is of course still early season, but with the Witches out of the KO Cup, they cannot afford to start slowly in the League.

Anything other than a full haul tonight from a team thrashed at Belle Vue on Monday, will be seen as failure.

Tonight’s teams

Ipswich: 1 S Nicholls, 2 C Vissing, 3 D King, 4 O Allen, 5 R Miskowiak, 6 D Stachyra, 7 C Wilkinson

Eastbourne: 1 M Zagar, 2 S Gustafsson, 3 L Dryml, 4 C Woodward, 5 J Kylmakorpi, 6 R Kling, 7 D Lampart.