WORCESTER Wolves need to produce a better defensive performance against Durham Wildcats in the British Basketball League tonight (7.30pm), according to head coach Paul James.

Wolves kept hold of second spot in the table with a nail-biting 86-85 victory over lowly Plymouth Raiders at the University Arena last Friday for their seventh successive home win.

It was also the 10th time this season Worcester have won a game by five points or less and the third time the margin has been just one.

While coach James is pleased they are coming out on the right side of those results, he believes they are capable of making life much easier for themselves.

Durham are just one place above Plymouth in the standings and the Wolves chief wants his players to seize the initiative in front of their own fans.

He said: “I don’t think there are any gimme games this year and we’ve seen that all season.

“Every team has been competitive to a point and Durham are another who are very patient and move the ball well.

“We need to make sure that defensively we are at them from the start. We can’t afford to be giving up 45 or 50 points in a half of basketball because that makes life really hard for us.”

Durham have lost their last five games, including 66-58 against Wolves in the north-east last month.

James continued: “They are a team that we have to get at straight away and try to dominate inside.

“They are not the biggest team so we have to try to dominate them in the paint if we can and see where we go from there.”

Wolves hope to have Dejan Radojevic back in the ranks after the Serbian power forward missed the Plymouth victory with tonsillitis.

The club have also been boosted by the news that guard Disraeli Lufadeju does not require surgery on his injured knee.

James said: “Disraeli has had an MRI scan and the injury isn’t to the point where we need to have him operated on.

“He’s going to get four to six weeks rest now and hopefully after that he can start his rehabilitation. I guess there’s a very slim chance he might be back for the play-offs but we’re not going to rush him back at any point.

“Dejan has been back in training this week so we have broken him back in gradually. Hopefully, he will be 80 or 90 per cent ready to go.”