WORCESTER Wolves might be languishing at the foot of the British Basketball League and out of the BBL Cup.

But head coach Ty Shaw is adamant his players are “treading in the right direction” ahead of tomorrow night's battle with fourth-placed Bristol Flyers at the SGS WISE Arena (7.30pm).

Wolves suffered their ninth successive league defeat last Friday when they went down 73-61 to leaders London Lions at the University of Worcester Arena.

Two days later Worcester came unstuck against London again with Lions winning 99-89 in the quarter-finals of the BBL Cup at the Copper Box Arena.

Shaw was not happy to lose both matches but considering he had just seven players at his disposal was delighted with their endeavours.

“There has been more consistency in the level of effort and competitiveness over a 40-minute period in the past two weekends,” Shaw said.

“They are games we would have liked to have won but we can’t be too disappointed with the attitude shown by the guys.

“I think we are definitely treading in the right direction.

“I am not getting too caught up on results because of the way we are playing, our style of play and the competitiveness that has been more towards the positive end of the scale.”

Miki Servera missed both games against Lions due to a “slight hamstring injury” but Shaw is hopeful the Spanish guard will be fit to face Bristol.

“Anybody who has played any type of sport knows that hamstrings are a touchy issue,” Shaw said.

“It was an unfortunate thing for him but going forward he will be fine. It was just bad timing for us.”

While Wolves are propping up the table Bristol are riding high with five victories in their past seven league games.

Flyers also beat Worcester 80-77 in their previous meeting in October but Shaw reckons in-form forward Deshawn Freeman can make a difference to his side’s hopes.

“Bristol are playing some tough basketball and have got a good group,” Shaw said.

“But having Deshawn now will definitely help us as far as the rebounding.

“When we last played Bristol last time out that was our Achilles heel so Deshawn should give us an added dimension and he has been pretty good in the games he has played so far.”

Shaw said the inclusion of Freeman had allowed Robert Crawford to move into his natural position on the wing and take the “pressure off” Filip Krämer.

“Filip is appreciating having someone else down there low to bang with the big bodies and compete rebounding-wise,” Shaw said.

“It gives us two physical players inside so guys can’t walk into position and try to establish themselves.

“For Deshawn and Filip to be next to each other it is a good pairing and makes us pretty versatile in the big body spot.”