Bears' version of Road Trip

The in-form BBL outfit are at Newcastle Eagles in the Championship tonight (7.30pm), then head even further north for Sunday's clash with Edinburgh Rocks.

It promises to be a gruelling weekend, with tonight's match looking to be the tougher of the two. Bears have lost their last nine matches with Eagles home and away and have suffered eight straight defeats in the north east.

Their last away win dates back to April Fool's Day, 1995, when the teams were known as Sunderland and Worthing.

By contrast, they will be chasing a fourth straight win over Edinbugh, home and away.

Bears have made a habit of breaking losing runs this season and Nurse is relishing the next challenge. He said: "It's another interesting one. It's the kind of fixture list where everything has presented a different challenge.

"This time it's the challenge of the long road trip and two tough games.

"Newcastle are a top four side and they are running into form. I see them saying, 'there's a team on a roll, let's go out and get them'.

"I am sure they consider this a big, big game, and so do we."

Bears were starting their long coach trip north at around 8.30am today, hoping the pre-Christmas traffic would not delay them too much.

They will then head to Edinburgh, where they have arranged training facilities for tomorrow before tackling the home side on Sunday afternoon (5pm).

Brighton fans are still on a high after the comprehensive home win over southern conference leaders Thames Valley Tigers, hot on the heels of the thrilling comeback to beat Milton Keynes Lions.

Those wins have left Bears firmly on course for a play-off spot and looking to challenge for the conference crown.

Nurse insists his players are not dwelling on past victories.

He said: "They are in pretty good shape. They have forgotten about their previous wins and have got back to work. Practice this week has been pretty aggressive and competitive. We are ready to take more steps forward."

Newcastle have lost their last four Championship games, but they were edged out by just a single point at London Towers in their most recent outing and should take one of the northern conference play-off spots.

Like Bears, they are through to the last eight of the Trophy and the sides will clash in the semi-finals if they both win through at Coventry on February 3.

Coach Tony Garbelotto got a courtside view of Bears' mauling of Tigers at the Brighton Centre.

He already knows plenty about Bears' much-improved forward Errol Seaman, who he coached as a raw junior in London.

The Eagles chief said: "After Chester they are the most in-form team. They have some outstanding individual players and, having seen them on Sunday, certainly Sterling Davis and Albert White were very impressive. I think White may be the best athlete in the league.

"They have also got Randy Duck, Mike Brown and Wil Johnson all playing well and they have a coach who has them super prepared. We are going to be up against it."

Ironically, Edinburgh will have to travel further than their Brighton visitors for Sunday's meeting at Meadowbank.

While Bears enjoy a weekend north of the border, Rocks will be rushing back home after playing at Birmingham tomorrow night.

Nurse is looking to adjust his team's fixture list for the New Year.

Bears have four games in the last eight days of the season in March but just three in the first 26 days of January.

Nurse will be keen to guard against his side going off the boil. There are also cash flow considerations given all those games are away.

The Bears coach will also look to bring in a new face ahead of the January 31 deadline.

He said: "I am aware other teams are looking to strengthen and we do not want them to move ahead of us."

Worthing Thunder have no game until January 5, when they host Solent. The trip to Inter-basket the following Saturday has been postponed to allow Thunder to prepare for the Trophy final with Teesside at Sheffield on Sunday, January 13.

Coach bookings are being taken for the final. Call Dave Marshall on 01903 529241.