HEAD coach Paul James says the battle for selection is hotting up at Worcester Wolves ahead of their final stretch of matches in the British Basketball League.

Wolves’ players have been hitting the practice courts hard since they defeated Plymouth Raiders 77-70 on March 18 and now set their sights on beating visitors Leicester Riders on Friday night (7.30pm).

Although they had no game last weekend, James insisted he did not want Wolves to take their foot off the gas in training.

Pavol Losonsky, Jordan Aaron, Perris Blackwell, Jay Couisnard and Javier Mugica have started Worcester’s last three games.

But James said Ben Eaves, Orlan Jackman, Ashton Khan, Disraeli Lufadeju and Jordan Dawes are snapping at their heels.

“They are all fit and healthy, which causes me a problem because we have obviously got a very deep and talented team,” James said.

“Any one of them can start and any one of them can play 25 or 30 minutes in a game.

“Sometimes a player might need two or three minutes to get into the groove but they don’t have that luxury here because we have got somebody else who is on the bench waiting to fill that spot.

“It puts a bit of pressure on the players, so they have to make sure that when they are out there they perform and do give us quality time.

“If everybody does that, then we are going to be a very tough side to beat down the stretch.”

Third-placed Wolves have won two out of their three matches this month and James said they are keen to string a run of results together in April, starting with second-placed Leicester at the University of Worcester Arena.

“We have watched a lot of video on Leicester and are going to make sure we are as well prepared as we can be for the game,” he said.

“After playing Leicester, we have got a double-header weekend against London and Bristol away and then the final two games of the season with Cheshire here on the Friday and Glasgow away on the Sunday. So this was our last mini-break before going right through to the end of the season and straight into the play-offs.

“But it is just about maintaining what we have done.

“We know the intensity levels we have to play at and the focus we must have for 40 minutes in a game if we want to be successful.

“It is not the time to be breaking down, which is why we are keeping training the way we are just to stay on top of those things.”