HEAD coach Paul James insists his Worcester Wolves players cannot afford to look too far ahead as they bid to maintain their impressive form.

A run of eight victories in their last 10 games has seen Wolves make up ground in the British Basketball League and reach the semi-final of the BBL Trophy.

James said there was a great atmosphere in the camp and believed his seventh-placed side had the potential to finish in the top five.

However, James has urged his troops not to take their eye off the ball as they prepare to face third-from-bottom Leeds Force at the University of Worcester Arena tomorrow (7.30pm).

“This is it now as we have either got one game-a-week or two games-a-week until the end of the regular season before we look at the play-offs,” he said.

“It is very important we continue to work as hard as we have been doing both on and off the floor.

“We have got a great opportunity to finish as high as fifth in the league given the way the results have been going, so we have got to make sure that we win the games that we are supposed to win and we will see how it all pans out.”

Fifth-placed Plymouth Raiders are two positions and two points higher than Wolves, but the Devon outfit lead the head-to-head record 2-0, meaning they will go above them if they finish level on points.

“Winning our next game is our next goal and that’s the way we have got to keep it,” James continued.

“Each side has got very different strengths and weaknesses, so we can only take it one game at a time and do all the stuff we need to do to prepare for those games.

“Hopefully we can continue this run of form and if we can win eight out of our next 10 games who knows where we will finish in the league. But we are not looking that far ahead.”

Having had a weekend off from competitive action, Wolves have had almost two weeks to prepare for their clash against Leeds.

James said the extra time had allowed players including Maurice Walker and Jermel Kennedy to “rest their bones” after seven games in a busy February.

“We were playing some really good basketball, so in that respect the break came at the wrong time,” he said.

“But that said we did have a lot of games in a short space of time and the guys were carrying a few niggling injuries.

“Going into the last third of the season with 10 games left, we needed to rest the players a little bit.

“There is a great atmosphere in the team and we are looking forward to the next series of games.”