Brighton Bears could be about to give Gaylon Moore a second chance to impress in the British League.

Bears coach Nick Nurse is talking to the Worthing Thunder forward and captain as he puts together next season's squad.

Nurse is making an early start to recruitment this year, even though his team still have at least one play-off game ahead of them.

Bears visit Sheffield Sharks in the quarter-finals tomorrow (7.30pm) with the winners moving on to Final Four weekend at the NIA in Birmingham on April 30 and May 1.

A short move east by Moore, who has played in this country since 2000, would hinge on him taking the first step towards securing a British passport.

Moore, who comes from Tennessee and will be 27 in June, expects to secure settled status by September, which would allow him to work in this country without needing a permit.

British League teams are allowed to field three imports who require work permits and one non-permit overseas man.

Moore, a 6ft 7in front-court scorer with a decent all-round game, would be a nice fit in that non-permit slot alongside Andrew Alleyne.

He will face a far tougher battle to secure a deal at Brighton if he still needs a work permit next term.

Nurse said: "The times we have played against Gaylon he has always played very well.

"He has proved to me he could do some damage at our level.

"He can score, he's local to the area and, if he is non-permit, that would help his cause."

Moore has limited BBL experience with Edinburgh Rocks and is ambitious to move into Europe when he secures his British passport.

He is more likely to attract employers on the continent if he has a successful BBL season behind him.

Moore would be entitled to transfer as a free agent and Thunder coach Gary Smith said he would move to any senior club with Worthing's good wishes.

Smith is interested in signing Radhi Knapp, the Anglo-Canadian forward who left Bears recently.

Ajou Deng, who is Sudanese with refugee status in this country, currently occupies Bears' non-permit spot. He hopes to secure a British passport by next season but, even if he does not, he would be free to join a European club under the Cotonou trade agreement.

Bears can prolong their season by two weeks by earning their ninth successive win over the Sharks tomorrow.

Although Sheffield finished a place above Bears in the league, they offer a tactical challenge to which Nurse's men seem well suited.

Sharks operate without a recognised big man but have the most potent three-point threat in the league.

Bears' perimeter defence has usually been up to the task and they cope well with Sheffield's top scorer Sterling Davis, a player Nurse knows well, having coached him at Brighton for two years.

Nurse said: "It will be a good game. We've had success against them because we have match-ups that take away what they do.

"Tony Holley has had some success against Sterling, which is a big factor, and we've got inside strength.

"We've got to make sure we get the ball inside. Then, when it comes back out, we've got to make a reasonable percentage of our shots."

Holley's condition is steadily improving after he lost his ever-present record by sitting out last weekend's games with an ankle problem.

He revealed: "I twisted my ankle against Thames Valley (on April 5) and played at Towers the next night and probably made it worse. It ballooned up after that but I'm hoping it is not too serious."