Adrien Sturt believes the Cheshire Phoenix have established their place among the BBL elite.

Following the Nix’s 89-75 success over Worcester Wolves on Sunday, 28-year-old Sturt believes that the club have now announced themselves as genuine title challengers.

Currently lying in fourth place in the BBL Championship, the Nix are eight points behind leaders Newcastle Eagles but have two games in hand on the Tyneside club and are still to face Fab Flournoy’s men twice before the season is out.

“Nothing is done and dusted in this league yet and there’s a few more twists and turns yet to come,” said the 6ft 10ins Australian.

“It’s always nice to beat the top teams but we have to realise that we are one of the top teams in this league now and we can match anyone.

“If we can keep taking care of things at our end then we give ourselves a great chance of making a run at Newcastle.”

Adelaide-born Sturt joined the Nix in November following his release from the London Lions roster and has gone on to establish himself as a key cog in head coach John Coffino’s rotation in recent weeks.

A shallow roster and injuries to Demond Watt have led to Sturt, who first came to the BBL in 2010 with the now defunct Essex Pirates, impressing with his increased minutes on the court.

WATCH: Demond Watt on Cheshire Phoenix's won over Worcester Wolves

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“It has been great with the Nix so far but I’m just happy to be able to play a role in the success we have been having on court,” said Sturt, who represented Great Britain at under-23 level owing to his father being English.

“We have had to cope with some roster changes but we’ve managed to work around that and we’ve stayed together as a team.

“It’s been good to get some more time on the court but the team comes first and we all have our roles that we have to play.”

Sturt played his college basketball in America at Snow College, moving back to Australia where he claimed a league title with the Melbourne Tigers in 2008 before a stint in Belgium with Dexia Mons-Hainaut.

For Sturt, he believes success this season for the Nix would be a major feat given the current strength of the BBL.

He added: “The league is the strongest it has been for a long time so to be right up there shows how good we’ve been.”