We always like a challenge here at the Brighton Bears but this is getting ridiculous.

Four players out last Sunday at Newcastle and at least two missing this weekend when we play two games in 24 hours. There's nothing like making things difficult.

Our depleted team lost to Newcastle but about 35 minutes of that game was outstanding for us. There was just a stretch from about the third to the eighth minute in the third quarter where we kept driving into the lane, getting knocked around and bumped and stripped and they went and got a ten-point lead.

Other than that we matched Newcastle all the way. We could have won that game, despite the odds against us, and you have got to give our players credit for that.

Losing Emiko Etete is a tremendous blow and, to be honest, I don't think people understand that. They don't understand why I liked him so much when we were at Birmingham together in 1996 or why I wanted him so bad when he was available to come here.

They don't see the little things he does that have such an impact. The three or four stripped balls a game that lead to lay-ups, the two minutes a game when you can tell him to guard Terrell Myers or someone. We are going to miss him.

Ralph Blalock's big toe is messed up but I would expect him to be in the line-up for sure on Saturday. I don't know if he can play a double header though.

His toe was really swollen after the Newcastle game. He was 25 per cent on Sunday and I don't really think he should have played.

I usually let the players decide because they know how their bodies feel but I should have pulled him out of there. I hope he will be at 70 per cent for Saturday and that's what we are focussing on right now. As for Randy Duck, there is no timetable. Any time this season will be a plus to us.

This is an important weekend for us and not just because of the Chester game. Scottish Rocks are good, make no mistake about that.

They have had a dip in form but their starting five is as talented as you need to be in this league.

We won up there a week ago but I don't think they were completely confident they could beat us. They will be now though, especially after seeing our injury problems.

Both teams played poorly when we met in Scotland. It was an ugly game which we won with a good five minutes to open the fourth quarter but there were 20 lead changes which shows how close it was.

We will go to Chester on Sunday expecting to win. They have a couple of injury problems and they are not playing that well.

spoke to Chris Finch, the Sheffield coach, and he said they are not clicking. If we were healthy I would really feel good but we are going to go in there and try to figure something out.

One good thing is we know we can match up with their big guys, which we could not manage last year. Wil Johnson was not the same player back then and Albert White wanted to float on the perimeter. Now we've got guys who can jump over them.

I'm looking forward to it from that standpoint. It will be tough to get back to the cup final intensity we had when we last played Chester but I will try to get the guys to do it.

Chester are going to bring it because we beat them in the cup and I like it like that.

They should be two great games. See you there.