SEVERN Stars are preparing for a “physical” encounter with Scottish Sirens at the University of Worcester Arena tomorrow night (7.30pm).

And player Iona Darroch insists Stars will be looking to “take control” from the first centre pass in a bid to record their second Vitality Superleague win of the season.

The Worcester-based club are third from bottom after four defeats in their first five games with the only victory coming against winless Celtic Dragons.

Fellow new franchise Sirens, who are sixth in the table, are also keen to make their mark and Darroch says she is expecting a “battle” for maximum points.

“I think it will be a really close game,” said the 18-year-old who can play at centre, goal attack and wing attack.

“They have a pretty physical defence but we are a physical team as well so it will be a good battle out on court.

“We have had such great support from the crowd at the arena so far so we need to put out a winning performance for our supporters.

“To have that support as a new franchise has been really encouraging.”

Stars have lost to top-four sides Surrey Storm, Loughborough Lightning, Team Bath and Wasps.

But Darroch believes her team are getting better and will be determined to “execute a 60-minute performance” in front of home fans in their first game televised live on Sky Sports.

“As a team we are still growing and building on those connections on court,” said Darroch who joined Stars from Manchester Thunder.

“We are still trying to chase the consistency and keep the performance up for the full 60 minutes.

“It is something we are struggling with at the minute. I don’t think we are 100 per cent sure why as we have not managed to pinpoint it yet.

“In the Bath game we put out a really good squad in the first half and then we let them get a 14-goal run in the third quarter which was maybe down to a lack of control on the court.

“It just needs someone or us as a unit to take control and get the momentum back our way.

“We put out a strong performance against Wasps last weekend but the first quarter let us down.

“We put out a really good last half of the game but there was a lack of control in that first quarter so we need to step up and put out the performance we know we are capable of.

“We have had a full week of training so we are well prepared to execute a full 60-minute performance.”