High-flying Chester Jets have admitted they fear a Brighton backlash in Sunday's BBL showdown.

Jets are hot favourites for the northern conference title, having lost just twice in 20 outings after last night's 94-89 win at Milton Keynes.

Nick Nurse's Bears need a win to boost their chances of nicking the southern crown off leaders London Towers.

Bears lost by one point to Towers last week but will be right back in the hunt if results go for them this weekend.

Chester coach Robbie Peers warned: "Brighton are as good as any team in the country, including us. Nick has done an outstanding job by bringing in great individual talent and moulding them into a team.

"We have had a good start but that counts for nothing.

"We have got a small squad. When we get tired or suffer injuries we know our season could peter out.

"If I had two or three more players we could keep the momentum going but we don't have the finances. That's life."

Bears have lost on their last ten visits to Chester, dating back to February 1996, and went down to the Jets in cup and trophy early this season.

Those defeats came by margins of 16 and 20 points. The trophy clash ended in controversy as Nurse blasted the match officials but was also notable for some fantastic shooting from Jets point guard John Thomas.

Peers added: "Both games were closer than the scorelines suggest and Brighton have obviously improved since then.

"It's a 50-50 game and Brighton need to win it.

"From a scoring point of view we will be looking out for Sterling Davis and Albert White but the rest of their team have a lot of experience.

"I think Randy Duck is an outstanding guard and I'm looking forward to the match."

So too is Bears guard Mike Brown. He said: "This is another team we haven't beaten yet. They are a big team and we have got the long bus ride up there as well but we will look forward to it."

Peers and Nurse have both been nominated for December's BBL coach of the month award, along with Chris Finch of resurgent Sheffield.

The Davis duo, Sterling of Brighton and Calvin of Chester, are among the nominees for the player's prize. Sterling took top spot last month.

Chester also have John McCord among the five contenders. Newcastle's Shawn Myers and Birmingham giant Antonio Garcia complete the list.

White and Sterling Davis have been confirmed for the All-Star game at Newcastle on January 20 after coming first and third respectively in the southern conference standings. Duck was ranked 16th.

Chester had four of the top five in the north.

Worthing Thunder expect to be without Dwayne Martin for their testing NBL Conference clash at home to dark horses Solent.

Martin spent the holiday season in the United States and is unlikely to return before tomorrow's 8pm tip-off. Mark Vingoe stands by to start.

Thunder's Trophy final is just nine days away but they cannot afford to let minds wander against a Solent side who have taken title hopefuls Plymouth and Teesside the full distance this season.

Worthing coach Gary Smith said: "This is probably bigger than the Trophy game right now.

"If we get the win, which I'm confident we will, it will stand us in good stead for the final."

Teesside meet Plymouth in a big weekend at the top of the table.