Look Who’s In The ‘Sharknation’ House Tonight

But coach Vince Macaulay insists they must rise to new level to slay the Sharks this Friday and set up a quarter-final tie against Durham Wildcats.

Lions improved to 4-2 with wins over Plymouth University Raiders and Glasgow Rocks last weekend but remain behind the 5-1 Sheffield, who pushed past Durham Wildcats.

Still awaiting the arrival of a couple of imports, Macaulay feels improvements are necessary.

“I was very pleased with the focus we showed over the two games at the weekend,” he said, “they were both tough encounters in different ways but the guys were well prepared and did well.

“Sheffield is another proposition all together. We will need to step up even further especially depending on who we have suited up, it will be super to have our main team out there.”

Whatever Lions team takes the floor, their Cup-winning coach will have them ready for the challenge.

Macaulay added: “Personally, the Cup is important to me having won it, I would like us to progress to the next round. Sharks are a very intelligent team and in bringing back BJ Holmes they just got a whole lot better.”

“Atiba (Lyons) knows exactly how he wants his team to play, very much Sharks ball, so I expect a real battle.”

Last time they met:

One Health Sharks Sheffield 79 London Lions 63 (BBL Championship, EIS Sheffield, 16/03/2013)

What they say:

Lions centre Adrien Sturt: “Having two tough, but good wins at the weekend gives us some momentum going into the Cup game against Sheffield and we have confidence in each other and our playing ability as a team.

“We played Sheffield in the pre-season and a lot has changed since then but you can expect them to play hard and well together as they have had a core group of guys together for a few years now.”

Sharks forward Mike Tuck (pictured): “Winning the BBL Trophy last year was great for the club and for Sheffield, especially with us being such huge underdogs going into the game. That win was motivation for our club to bring more silverware back to the city. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had the Cup in Sheffield and would be great to get it back.”