The fans of JT/Fox Oxford Cheetahs will have their ears and eyes trained on the East of England Showground next Tuesday as Peterborough take on Poole Pirates.

A win for Peterborough would almost certainly give Oxford the Sky Sports Elite League title, and if Cheetahs can pull off the near impossible by winning at Ipswich on the same night, it won't really matter. They defend a narrow 46-44 win from the first leg of their B fixture.

Coventry, who are also in action on Tuesday, have to win all their remaining matches, including bonus points, to draw level with Oxford's tally.

It appears that ever since a certain Gary Havelock opened his mouth criticising Oxford's use of guests for the injured Lukas Dryml, Cheetahs have lost that extra spark, save superb wins at Eastbourne and Belle Vue.

A lot of it has to do with Dryml's world under 21 championship dreams which sadly, just failed to bear fruit, having finished runner-up. His desire to lift that championship meant he came back into the Cheetahs side to get some action in when he clearly wasn't race-fit.

He is nowhere near the rider he was before he suffered the knee injury at King's Lynn.

His inclusion, in his current state, has weakened the side despite his whole-hearted enthusiasm in wanting to do well for Oxford.

Oxford are sweating on the fitness of Todd Wiltshire in the remaining weeks of the season. He is currently suffering from a shoulder injury.

Boss Colin Meredith said: "Todd is a superb rider and very important to our plans, so it was ironic his injury came at the time when Lukas Dryml and Andrew Appleton were also strugg- ling.

"We need a fully fit Todd Wiltshire and it's also important to have Andrew 100 per cent at reserve because he is such a key member of the squad."

Dryml, togther with Leigh Adams, will lead Oxford's assault on the Sky Sports Elite League Riders Championship at Sheffield's Owlerton Stadium tonight.

Some of the gloss has been taken away from the line-up with both Coventry's Californians Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock having to ride in the USA, but there is still plenty of talent on show.

**Full line-up: Dean Barker (Eastbourne), Ryan Sullivan (Peterborough), Krzysztof Cegielski (Poole), David Norris (Eastbourne), Scott Nicholls (Ipswich), Leigh Adams (Oxford), Sam Ermolenko (Wolves), Craig Boyce (Ipswich), Lee Richardson (Coventry), Tony Rickardsson (Poole), Nicki Pedersen (King's Lynn), Mark Loram (Peterborough), Jason Lyons (Belle Vue), Lukas Dryml (Oxford), Mikael Karlsson (Wolverhampton), Jason Crump (King's Lynn).