WORCESTER Wolves head coach Paul James is urging his players to show their true colours tonight against Bristol Flyers at the University of Worcester Arena (7.30pm).

Wolves are second in the British Basketball League Championship, just two points adrift of table-topping Newcastle Eagles, the reigning champions.

James wants a positive reaction from Wolves after their disappointing 80-71 defeat last Saturday against Leicester Riders in the BBL Trophy.

Wolves are also in league action tomorrow when they travel to Cheshire Phoenix (5.30pm).

“We need to see some sort of reaction from the players to what happened last weekend against Leicester and if we go out and play like we did in the second-half against Leicester, we will have no problems,” said James.

“We need people with a mindset to go out there, respect everybody as much as we should, and play their own part.

“If we can do that, we should be fine.

“If any of the players are not on their game on the night then it makes life a little bit difficult.”

Wolves have already played Bristol three times this term, pipping them 69-68 in the last league encounter between the teams on January 17.

However, Wolves crashed to a 90-82 BBL Cup defeat against Flyers at the end of October before registering a 79-65 home league win in November.

“Bristol knocked us out of the cup and had their best game of the season against us in that knockout match,” recalled James.

“They are a very well drilled team and have been together as a squad for a while and played in English Basketball League Division One for many years.

“The nucleus of their team has been playing together for four or five years and they know what they have got and are a tough team to crack.

“They play for 40 minutes and they are a team that if you take them lightly, as we found out to our cost, they can beat you.”

He added: “We have to make sure we are ready for them and, hopefully, do a better job of taking care of our boards and have a better offensive night.”

James acknowledges that Worcester’s fans are enjoying the hard-fought home battles at the Arena but admits the tight matches are too close for comfort.

“We have got to sort out the way we finish games and close games out and put ourselves in good situations to win games comfortably,” he said.

“For whatever reason, we tend to allow teams back into matches and we will have to find five players who can get the job done during that end period.

“Maybe we should look at the line-ups when it comes to those close situations to make sure we can go through those pressure periods and build up leads.”