We're getting set for one very interesting weekend as we enjoy our first real double-header test of the new season.

London Towers away and Newcastle at home will give us the chance to play against plenty of old foes who have made life tough for us in the past.

I know all the talk this week has been about who will be cut from the London Towers roster but, to be honest, all we are thinking about is how will the Brighton Bears play this weekend.

Above all, I can guarantee both teams will play their guts out when we go up to play Towers on Saturday.

Towers have made a bad start but that's not necessarily good news for us. You always have to take care when you are dealing with a wounded animal, which is what they are right now.

True, they will probably bring in new players who will have not have practised together, which is maybe not ideal, but that need not be a handicap.

In fact, I think if you ask their coach Robbie Peers or anyone else up there, they will probably say: "How could things get much worse?"

I remember when I coached in Los Angeles in the summer league and I was given 15 players and told to put a team out on the floor.

We got a good chemistry straight away and won our first game two nights later.

Robbie will tell his team: 'Let's have some fun. Take shots if you are open."

Who knows if they will get the new players in and work permits sorted out by Saturday? We'll just worry about what the Bears are doing.

I expect us to play a little better, a little harder, be tighter defensively and handle the ball better than we have been doing.

If we do all that, what is happening with the Towers team will not matter.

Newcastle visit us on Sunday and they will not travel all that way expecting to get beat. They had a pretty good team last year and they think they have made it better.

They think Mo Robinson in for Andrew Mavis and Shawn Myers in for Niki Arinze have made them better than what they had before.

It remains to be seen whether they are right in that. They were hard to handle last year. We have had our problems with Jerry Hyatt and TJ Walker in the past and we remember Myers in the last game of last season when he was outstanding for Scottish Rocks against us in the Championship game.

Talking of champions, I know there has been some concern lately that we appear to have forgotten all about a former Bears champion Steve Nelson by giving Rico Alderson the No. 6 shirt, which had been retired in tribute to Steve.

We asked a source to confirm which numbers had been retired and there has been a misunderstanding, but we will sort that out and Rico will get another number. I fully support the idea of paying tribute to great players from the Bears' past, not least Steve Nelson.

I also expect to see prime seats at the Brighton Centre full on Sunday. We had a bit of a teething problem against Thames Valley, meaning seats were left empty, but we have more corporate season ticket holders than ever before, we have plenty of season ticket holders and we have fans booking reserved seats, which is all good news but takes some organisation.

Wherever you are sitting, I expect us to put on a show for you. If you can make it, please get up to Palace and support us there as well. It could be quite a night.

GO BEARS