Frustrated point guard Mark Jackson has been told he can still play a big part in Brighton Bears' play-off push.

Jackson's court time has dried up since forward Rodger Farrington's impressive arrival in the Bears squad.

He had just one minute in each of the recent defeats by Birmingham and Sheffield, a similarly brief run in the win at Leopards and spent last weekend on the bench as London Towers and Milton Keynes were defeated.

Jackson has admitted this season would be a learning experience as he understudied skipper Randy Duck in the key playmaking role.

But he has done a decent job whenever called upon and makes no secret of his desire for more chances.

Farrington's arrival was expected to mean more bench time for big Errol Seaman. Instead it is the 5ft. 10ins. back court man who has suffered.

Jackson's lack of court time came up in discussion at a meeting with coach Nick Nurse yesterday.

Nurse said: "We had a chat about it. He is fed-up which is quite normal.

"Maybe I have got to get creative and find some defences he can get involved in.

"That is one of Mark's strengths. He is a gutsy kid but sometimes he has a tough time because of his size.

"But he will be back in the rotation and we will certainly need him."

Nurse had a similar message for centre Wilbur Johnson, who played 38 of the 85 minutes at the weekend.

The Bears coach said; "I have spoken to Wil as well.

"He played very well on Saturday but he happened to be resting when we went bananas at the start of the fourth quarter and I didn't want to fix what wasn't broken."

Bears returned to training yesterday ahead of Sunday's clash with Newcastle at the Triangle.

Johnson and Sterling Davis missed the session with shoulder and back niggles respectively.