THE Jets will be hoping to take a wave of confidence into Saturday’s match against Glasgow Rocks after knocking Newcastle Eagles out of the BBL Cup.

While the Rocks were recovering from a bout of swine flu which had infected their squad, head coach Paul Smith and his Jets were earning a BBL Cup victory over the Eagles which may prove to be a defining moment as they bid to return to the summit of the Championship after four years without any silverware.

Rocks player-coach Sterling Davis says his side are gradually recovering from their scare, and is hoping the Rocks can improve on their last performance against the Jets, after Smith’s charges grabbed a 78-73 win at Kelvin Hall in the first round of the BBL Cup.

Davis said: “The guys are slowly recovering from last week. It seemed like it just rushed us all at once, but things are starting to take their course in recovery.

“Hopefully we can be better this weekend than in our last meeting with the Jets. They came out with a much higher intensity on both ends of the floor in our first meeting of the season, and I think Chez Marks and Shawn Myers are both playing well for them.”

The Jets come into the game as BBL Cup semi-finalists after beating Newcastle Eagles and Smith expects Saturday’s game to be no different than the side’s last meeting.

“It was a very tough game a few weeks ago, and it will be the same again on Saturday,” he said.

“Apart from the odd blip, we are showing improvement every week so we are confident. The Eagles were under strength last weekend, but it was still a good win.”

Those blips include a defeat at Sheffield Sharks last Friday, before their cup win, and need to get their campaign back on track at the Northgate Arena.

Still without long-term casualty Calvin Davis, the Jets have found Paul Peterson’s growing maturity an asset and he has made a number of key contributions in recent games.

Statistic experts may predict a Jets victory, as they have the away head-to-head at 14-9, the all time series 29-23 and won the last encounter by five points.

However, the Rocks’ American contingent of Yanders, Sapp and Copeland means you can never write them off.