Brighton Bears are backing Rico Alderson, despite seeing him ejected from their last two matches.

Alderson is facing a BBL suspension of at least one game after his part in a fracas with Justin Phoenix in Saturday's 86-84 defeat at Sheffield.

He will, however, be in the Bears line-up which can book a BBL Trophy semi-final spot by beating Thames Valley at the Brighton Centre tonight (6pm).

Bears owner and coach Nick Nurse, who had talks with Alderson yesterday, admits his most recent signing is in hot water with the basketball authorities but said: "It's unbelievable the amount of stuff he has to contend with on court.

"Teams will go after him because they know he is a good player and they want to get him out of the game.

"Rico feels bad about letting people down. Being part of this team means a lot to him. I have got to figure something out to help him and I know where I am going with it."

Today's clash kicks off a huge week for the Bears, who tackle London Towers in a national cup semi-final on Saturday and visit champions Chester a day later.

Intrigue is added by the arrival at Thames Valley of big Tony Holley, a player Nurse considered signing in the summer and who took ten rebounds during Saturday's shock win over Towers.

Nurse admitted: "I have never been involved in a week like this. These are big time games, the sort you need to win if you want people to respect you as big time players."