CHESHIRE Phoenix coach Matt Lloyd says he knows what to expect from what promises to be a critical double-header for his side this weekend.

Phoenix face crucial clashes at Surrey Heat (Friday 7.30pm) and at home to Plymouth Raiders (Sunday 5.30pm) as they look to keep their slim play-off hopes alive.

The Nix remain two points behind eighth-placed Sheffield Sharks in the BBL table, though the Yorkshiremen have four games in hand. Cheshire will have just one more championship game to play after this weekend.

Phoenix kept their dreams alive with a vital win against Surrey last weekend, and Lloyd is targeting a repeat performance tomorrow.

“Heat are a very good team,” he said. “They play a very intense style of basketball, pushing the ball at every opportunity. They like to get the ball inside and get the higher percentage shots all the time which can cause many problems to teams, especially ours with having a short rotation.

“Their key players are Frank and Chavis Holmes, they link-up very well together. However, they have threats all over the floor with Frank Holmes inside and Sam Cricelli at the small forward spot. Then they have the leadership qualities of Julius Joseph off the bench.

“Against them on Sunday, we played very good team basketball. For large parts of the game we executed our game plan reasonably well. We need to work on our help-side defence amongst other things.”

Skipper Chez Marks believes his side’s rebounding will be key against Surrey.

“The Heat are a great team,” he added. “They have all the right players for each position.

“Last week when we played them, we did a better job on the boards. I think that is a key factor to our team. We need to improve on our defence. If we can stop people, we have a better chance of winning the game.

“On Sunday we played a good game. Shawn Myers did a phenomenal job on the boards as well as putting the ball in the basket. Getting Jerome Gumbs healthy again, after illness, is a plus as well.”

Lloyd, meanwhile, hopes his side have learnt their lessons when they face Plymouth on Sunday.

He said: “Last time we pushed them down to the wire. However, our defence was really poor, which will be our area to improve on in this week's game.”