WORCESTER Wolves will hand towering centre Giedrius Knysas his debut when they host Leicester Riders tonight (7pm).

The 6ft 10in Lithuanian signed for the British Basketball League side yesterday and replaces Bulgarian Petroslav Zafirov in the squad.

Knysas spent four years playing college basketball in the United States for Charleston Southern Bucaneers.

The 22-year-old from Vilnius has represented his national side as a 16 and 18-year-old.

New Wolves coach Paul James will be keen to maintain his perfect home record since taking charge at the University of Worcester-based side when he goes up against his home town club.

Since returning to action in January, James has masterminded a 91-69 victory over London Capital and a 76-65 home success against Cheshire Jets, while league-leaders Sheffield Sharks needed overtime to beat them 90-88 “My philosophy is based around team-work. We stood out against a good fourth-placed team in the Cheshire Jets and got a very good win.

“We really don’t know too much about the Leicester outfit, but they have a good coach in Rob Paternostro and are having a good season.”

Leicester-born James says he hopes he can return home with the bragging rights.

“It is always nice to go up against your home town team and it will be even better if we can beat them,” James said.

“It is a special fixture for me, but the most important thing is that we get the win and keep pushing towards those play-off places.”

The Riders coach is expecting a tough contest at Worcester having seen the new-look Wolves side recently.

Paternostro said: “I was impressed with the Wolves when I watched them.

“Daniel Gilbert and Rod Middleton impressed me and they should only get better as the season goes on.

“We just need to stay confident and understand that there is a long way to go in this league.”