HEAD coach Paul James believes he will not need to rouse his “motivated” troops for Worcester Wolves’ BBL Trophy encounter against Sheffield Sharks at the University of Worcester Arena tonight (7.30pm).

Wolves could have come up against lower-graded Reading Rockets, Derby Trailblazers or Essex Leopards, who all play in the National Basketball League, in the first round.

But they have been handed a tough draw against Sheffield who have won their last five games to climb to fourth in the British Basketball League.

James said his players would need “a lot of energy” to stop a “very aggressive” Sharks side but he insisted Wolves were determined to progress in the competition.

“We don’t want to be out of the Trophy come this evening so it is not going to take much motivation from me to get the players up for this,” he said.

“They will be wanting to go through to the next round so it is just about coming up with the game-plan and hopefully sticking to that for 40 minutes.

“It is a one-off game and we are playing against a solid team in Sheffield who are very strong defensively and very aggressive offensively. We need to prepare ourselves mentally and physically for that.”

Although James felt there were “improvements” in Wolves’ 87-84 BBL home defeat to Plymouth Raiders last Friday, he admitted it was “nice” to focus their attentions away from the league.

And he is keen to give Wolves’ fans reason to cheer after a disappointing start to the campaign which has seen them record just five wins.

“It is nice to get away from the league situation,” he said.

“If we can play as well as we did against Plymouth but close out the game then we have got a good opportunity to win.

“I have seen some positives and I think there have been improvements.

“But it is now about understanding how to close out games.”

Point guard Ashton Khan has been suffering with a sickness bug but is expected to be fit to face Sheffield.

“This is a good opportunity for not just ourselves but the fans and the club to have something to really cheer about,” added James who guided Wolves to Trophy glory in 2014 and to the semi-finals before losing to Newcastle Eagles last season.

“It is important we come out and play with a lot of energy.

“There is no tomorrow in this competition. You either win and you go through or you are out of another competition.

“That’s the same for Sheffield so I am sure it will be a real battle out there and a fantastic game to watch.”