HEAD coach Paul James has urged his players not to hold back at Sheffield Sharks tonight as Worcester Wolves aim to reach the BBL Cup final (7.30pm).

Wolves have established a 10-point advantage ahead of the semi-final second leg after beating Sharks 102-92 at the University of Worcester Arena.

But James insists the tie is still in the balance and stressed his side cannot afford to protect their lead as they look to secure a place at the Arena Birmingham next month.

“We are in a good position,” James said. “But it is still all to play for.

“Although we have got that 10-point lead we need to forget about that and focus on winning the leg to make sure we are home and dry.

“We are not going there to protect any lead.

“We need to play our normal game and put Sheffield under a lot more pressure by taking the lead on the night.

“We will see what we need to do towards the end of the game as we may need to adjust our tactics a bit.

“But first and foremost we need to go out there and play as well as we have been.”

Wolves are on a run of six straight victories in all competitions and will be boosted by the return of forward Alex Navajas who has overcome a calf injury.

But James reckons his team will have a battle on their hands against a physical Sharks side who are third in the British Basketball League table.

“Sheffield will be well up for it,” James said.

“When you look at the last game it was just a six-point game going into the last 30 seconds.

“We got a couple of quick scores to push it out to 10 which was tremendous and has given us a bit of a momentum.

“But it will be very hostile up there.

“We all know Sheffield are the most physical team in the league so it is going to be tough and we have got to be mentally ready for that.

“Hopefully we have got three strong officials so it stays a basketball game and not a rugby match but whatever it is we have got to be able to adapt.”

Worcester are bidding to make their first final since winning the BBL play-offs in 2014.

“It would be fantastic if we could get there,” James added.

“It has been a long time coming and we have given ourselves a great opportunity.

“A lot of people work so hard behind the scenes at this club and the fans come week in week out so it would be nice to repay them by giving them a big day out.

“We have got a lot of new players who have been tremendous all season and I think we deserve to be where we are right now.

"Hopefully we can finish the job and look forward to playing in the final.”