HEAD coach Paul James has urged his players to “go after” Sheffield Sharks from the first whistle as Worcester Wolves aim to seal their place in the BBL Trophy final tomorrow (4pm).

The semi-final is finely balanced ahead of the second leg at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield, after Wolves and Sharks battled out a thrilling 86-86 draw on Wednesday.

Sheffield held a 16-point advantage at the start of the second period before Worcester came storming back at the University of Worcester Arena.

But James insisted his side cannot afford to get off to another slow start as they look to secure the win to take them through to the final at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow, on Sunday, March 4.

“In the first half we seemed a little slow in all areas and it took us a while to adjust to their size and power in and around the basket,” he said.

“But in the second half we did a tremendous job as we pulled together and had a siege mentality to claw our way back into the game.

“We need to go up there with that same intensity, fight and spirit but from the very beginning and not wait until we are down before we start to get after them.

“We have got to try to get after them early on and put doubt into their mind.”

Wolves beat Sheffield 173-157 on aggregate in December to reach the BBL Cup final but James felt this last-four encounter was “too close to call”.

“It is finely balanced,” James said.

“If I was the Sheffield coach I would be a little frustrated not to have come away from Wednesday’s game with some sort of lead.

“We are relieved that we were able to fight back and tie the match. It’s just a one-off game now and I am delighted with where we are.”

Wolves are expected to be without the injured Dallin Bachynski who has been struggling with a sore Achilles tendon.

But James is confident the versatile Brandon Parrish will continue to fill his shoes.

“It has taken a little longer to get Dallin back fit than we expected,” James added.

“He is getting treatment pretty much every day for the problem and hopefully that’ll settle down soon and we can have him back playing for us.

“We have had to juggle the pack a bit. Brandon has been playing more of an inside role than he has done all season but he has accepted that position and done it very well.

“We are back to a seven or eight-man rotation but we will work those as best we can and keep trying to get some wins.”