DIRECTOR of basketball Paul James insists Worcester Wolves will not be taking basement boys Birmingham Knights lightly tonight.

The sides meet in the British Basketball League at North Solihull Sports Centre (7pm) with leaders Wolves seeking a third win over their rivals.

In each of their previous two fixtures, Worcester have broken the century barrier, winning 102-72 in December and 100-59 min October.

But James, whose side visited Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Trophy last night, believes the winless Knights are improving.

He said: "The game against Birmingham is back in the BBL Championship, so we will be totally focused for this game.

"One of the particularly good things during this campaign has been that we have treated all of our opponents with the utmost respect and have not taken anything for granted."

"Coach Dougie (Paul Douglas) has got the team playing hard and they have become more competitive as the season has gone on.

"I'm sure lessons have been learned and they will continue to improve this season and next."

Despite their position in the table, Knights guard Brent Benson is the league's leader scorer with an average of 23.8 points per game.

He said: "I think we are doing a good job at competing but we have to be more conscientious as a unit.

"But we have improved since the first game of the season, so that can be a positive in the future.

"Hopefully we will have a good crowd at home and be ready to compete with one of the top teams in the league."