WORCESTER Wolves are stepping up their preparations to move into the new Worcester Arena by switching their home matches to Friday nights.

The British Basketball League side are making the change from their usual Saturday slot to get them ready for life in their new venue, which is due to open by March.

Wolves will play all their home matches at 7.30pm on a Friday when they swap the University of Worcester for the 2,000-capacity Hylton Road site and also want fans to get into the habit.

First up is the visit of London Lions tomorrow night, followed by high-flying Surrey Heat the following Friday. Both will still be at the university.

Director of basketball Paul James is delighted with the new time slot, particularly as it will significantly reduce the likelihood of playing twice in 24 hours.

In the past, Saturday night games meant Wolves had little recovery time if they were also scheduled to play away fixtures on Fridays or Sundays.

James said: “We’ve defended our home court very well, not only this season but last season as well.

“Now we are moving to a Friday night and hopefully that will still be positive for us so we’re very excited about that.

“Just moving to a Friday means we’re not going to have these double headers on Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday.

“We will be able to rest between games.”

The Lions clash is the first of two games in 48 hours for Wolves as they also travel to Durham Wildcats on Sunday (4pm).

Having started 2013 with an 89-82 defeat to joint leaders Leicester Riders, the team are keen to get back to winning ways.

James added: “It’s a massive spell for us. We’re looking for four points this weekend and I think we’ve got to get the four points to achieve what we want to.

“We’ve put the Leicester defeat behind us — they are the BBL Cup winners so we’re not too disappointed with that loss.

“We’ve got a run of games coming up now where we’re hoping to do very well.

“We start against London Lions and are looking to get back on that winning trail very quickly.

“Durham will be no pushovers but I like the fact we’ve got the rest between the games which will be good.”

Small forward Kai Williams, who made his England debut against Ireland last weekend, is carrying an ankle injury but is expected to play through the pain barrier.