Dave Wahl has called for depleted Brighton Bears to go out on a high note in front of their own fans.
Bears tackle high-flying London Leopards at the Brighton Centre tomorrow with Wilbur Johnson and Demetric Reese again expected to be absent.
Johnson has flown back to Philadelphia to be with his pregnant wife Elandra and, in his absence, Wahl stepped up with 24 points in the midweek defeat at Milton Keynes.
Responsibility for Bears' inside game is again likely to be shouldered by Wahl and Errol Seaman if Johnson is unable to return on tomorrow morning's flight into Gatwick.
Wahl said: "We have played Leopards so often it would be really nice to beat them, especially in front of our own fans.
"We run a lot of our offences through Wil and he gets a lot of attention, so obviously we are not as potent without him.
"If he's here tomorrow, great, but, I hope he does not feel he needs to rush back if things are not all okay out there."
Johnson flew home in midweek following complications in his wife's pregnancy.
She is now out of hospital and Bears were due to hear today whether their star performer would be back in time to tackle Leopards.
Reese's collar bone injury will keep him out for the last two matches.
Coach Mark Dunning added: "Under the circumstances, the boys put in a good effort on Wednesday.
"I know we can do that again against the Leopards. If we can keep it reasonably close, who knows?"
Meanwhile, Worthing Thunder hope lightning does not strike twice when they host Teesside in the Conference from 8pm.
Teesside won 114-113 at Worthing last week and tomorrow's winners will have home advantage if the sides meet again in the play-offs. Forward Gaylon Moore is struggling with a shoulder injury.
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