Worcester and Leicester ready for festive clash

Midlands rivals Worcester Wolves and Leicester Riders will be looking to continue their good BBL Championship form when they meet at Worcester University.

Having become the first team to defeat leaders Newcastle Eagles in Championship play, Wolves go into the game in second place with an 8-2 record, while Riders have suffered only one loss in six regular season games and are fourth in the table.

The three games between the sides last season were all close affairs as Riders took the series which included a double overtime thriller won by Leicester.

Wolves coach Paul James expects a difficult game as the high-flying midlands rivals match-up: “Riders have a very good team this season and have built on what they had last season. They are well coached by Rob [Paternostro] and play with a lot of energy at both ends of the floor.

“We will be focusing on them as a team. They have too many scoring weapons to focus on any one player.

The Wolves play-caller was delighted with how his team bounced back after losing in the Cup semi-final to end Eagles’ perfect start to the season and then go on to beat Glasgow Rocks the following day: “As far as I’m concerned we bounced back in the second leg and so I was happy with that. We knew we had our toughest weekend of the season a head of us so beating Plymouth in the second leg on their court was huge for our preparations and served us well.”