Wilbur Johnson does not want to see a single spare seat in the house when Brighton Bears go for title glory tomorrow night.

Bears tackle leaders Sheffield Sharks knowing victory will put them in command of the three-way battle for top spot.

Johnson took virtually every honour in the British game in three years with the Sharks and since then has inspired Bears to three successive wins over his old club at the Brighton Centre.

A fourth will take Bears top of the pile and give them a clear edge in the head to head with Sheffield, who they still have to visit before the end of the season.

It promises to be a tremendous battle in front of a packed house and Johnson declared: "We can't wait.

"We have put ourselves in a great position to win the league and this weekend is going to go a long way to deciding it.

"I hope everybody comes out ready from the start and that includes the fans.

"I want to see 3,500 people in there cheering for the Bears.

"We will be ready. Everybody is focused and loose.

"We were back in practice on Monday morning and even then most of the talk was about Friday's game."

Sheffield have the best defensive record in the league, conceding 80.34 points per game, but Bears are only just behind them.

Bears won by 17 and Sharks by two in their respective home games, giving Brighton an advantage in the head to head.

The four-match series will be concluded in Yorkshire a week on Sunday.

Every basket and every possession will seem like gold dust tomorrow night and Johnson believes the game will be won close to the hoop, where he and star Sheffield centre Lynard Stewart will be doing battle.

Sheffield are the top three-point shooting team in the country but anything off target should be snapped up by Bears, who lead the league for rebounding.

Johnson said: "Our game plan will be pretty simple. We have got to play with great intensity and that is where the crowd will be a big factor.

"The other keys will be our rebounding and how we stay on our men defensively.

"They have got dangerous three-point shooters and we can't give them any second shots.

"The game will be won and lost down low where me and Sterl (Davis) will go one-on-one with (Justin) Phoenix and Stewart.

"Sheffield play aggressive defence and we will have to be tough mentally and physically.

"They don't have the greatest talent but they play together and they play hard. We have got to match them for that."

Sharks thrashed Birmingham by 30 points last weekend but Bears' two-point success at Newcastle was just as precious.

They did it without Ralph Blalock, whose absence through injury had such an unsettling effect in the previous game at Thames Valley.

Johnson admitted: "We knew Ralph would not play so it was not such a shock as it was at the Thames Valley game. We adjusted and did different things.

"We played pretty well in the first half but they made some crazy shots like Ian Whyte hitting a three and TJ Walker a bank shot on the buzzer.

"Then in the second half they went up by 14 and for a half a second we were thinking 'Uh-oh'. We pulled back to about five and we were able to get the win in the end.

"Now it's Sheffield. It has been a few years since I played for them and there's no animosity but I want to beat them real bad."

The best part of 3,500 fans will hoping Johnson gets his wish.