Skipper Randy Duck admits Brighton Bears will have some unfinished business to attend to when they return to the big stage this season.

Bears run out at the Brighton Centre on Saturday against Thames Valley (7pm) desperate to take the next logical step in their progression and win some silverware.

They took huge strides towards that goal last season, missing out on the southern conference title by one win and reaching the semi-final of the play-offs, where they led mighty Chester by nine points at half-time.

With crowds and excitement also rocketing after the arrival of coach Nick Nurse, the season was seen by many as a success. Not, though, by their ultra-competitive captain.

He admitted: "I would always say we under-achieved a little bit last year. We had three guys who were legitimate top five or top ten players in the league.

"What it broke down to was Chester beating us in one quarter of a game in the semi-finals. For us not to be able to stop that leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth. It was tough. We talked about it quite a bit and reflected on the good the bad and the ugly."

Now Duck is back for the second of the three years for which he is under contract at Bears. He will lead a team which has changed and, in at least two key facets, improved.

The first is three-point shooting. Bears were rock bottom in the BBL in that category last season but new boys Ralph Blalock, from Leicester, and Rico Alderson, from Leopards, can both be expected to shoot at around 40 per cent from that range.

Mike Brown has also shown signs of regaining his three-point touch in pre-season while Sterling Davis can hit them from distance when allowed a bit of space.

Look for Davis to be one of the top players in the BBL this season.

Secondly, Nurse now has a side well versed in converting promise into trophies. Blalock, Duck, Wilbur Johnson, Emiko Etete and Errol Seaman have all won major prizes in the British game.

Duck and Davis can now add the USBL crown, clinched in dramatic style playing for Kareem Abdul Jabbar's Oklahoma Storm in the summer.

Confidence and maturity are everything on the big occasion and Nurse has the men to stick to the playbook and keep their cool when the pressure is on.

Then there is the flair. Nurse insists his men will be fun to watch and no one will cause more fireworks than Alderson at his best.

The former Leopoards man is Bears' replacement for Albert White, a richly talented free spirit who, the Bears coach believes, can be harnessed into the overall pattern.

Out go Rodger Farrington (Mons, Belgium), Mark Jackson (Solent), Jon Turner (Brighton Cougars) and White, who agreed a deal with French Pro B side Chalons En Champagne but has since been released.

Nationally these are tough times for the British League, which has lost two of its teams and so far failed to attract a main sponsor or television deal.

Brighton are doing their best to buck that depressing trend.

Marketing is an off-court strenth of the current set-up and new match night features this time round will include the Bears Village, an area outside the main arena including basketball hoops, music and computer games to keep youngsters busy before tip-off.