HEAD coach Paul James admits he is wary of Dallin Bachynski suffering another injury setback ahead of Worcester Wolves’ double-header this weekend.

Bachynski ended his month-long lay-off when he featured in Wolves’ 100-72 home win over Leeds Force in the British Basketball League last week.

James said the 7ft centre, who had overcome an issue with his Achilles tendon, performed better than expected as he registered 13 points and six rebounds in his 17-minute stint.

But he insisted he remained cautious over Bachynski’s fitness as Wolves prepare for tomorrow’s trip to Cheshire Phoenix (7.30pm) and Sunday’s visit to Manchester Giants (5pm).

“We still have to be pretty careful with Dallin,” James said.

“He probably played a bit more than I thought he would play and he did better than I thought he might do having missed eight games.

“He worked very hard in that game and as the match went on he got better and better, so hopefully he can keep on improving.

“But we don’t want to see a recurrence of that injury.

“Dallin is a big part of the team. He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the stats which make it easier for the rest of the players around him.

“We want to nurse that injury and hopefully by the end of the season he will be back to being 100 per cent fit.

“At the moment he is about 90 or 95 per cent fit which is great for us. But it is about maintaining that now and making sure that he gets his rest and recovery in.”

Bachynski was among 12 Wolves players that got game-time against lowly Leeds including University of Worcester students Matthew Williamson, Zachariah Noble, Dominic Ives and George Emms.

James said he was pleased to have so many players at his disposal after being left with just four senior first-team regulars at one stage last month due to injuries and international call ups.

“In games like that it’s an opportunity for the student players who have really come on this season to get some court time as well,” James added.

“It was not about people playing quantity of minutes it was more about quality of minutes.

“There was no need for anybody to play more than 25 or 27 minutes so it was a case of just rotating the team through the match and I thought everybody came in and did really well.

“You always want to be in a situation where players are pushing each other for court time.

“It is nice to have a group of guys who are challenging each other in training as it creates a competitive team.”