Daniel Hildreth today admitted his long-standing play-off dream has been put in serious jeopardy by a freak injury.

Hildreth suffered a dislocated clavicle bone and ligament damage in Genesis Brighton Bears' thrilling 74-69 defeat of Scottish Rocks on Saturday.

The win was enough to help Bears to a play-off quarter-final at Newcastle on Friday.

But Hildreth, who finished the match with his arm in a sling and taking painkillers, fears he will not be there.

The 29-year-old guard played for Bears in their years at the bottom of the Southern Conference and also missed the play-offs with Derby after moving north in 2001.

He said: "It's unbelievably frustrating.

It was a great win but this would have been my first year in the BBL play-offs and I'd be gutted to miss it.

"When you look at the X-rays you can see my clavicle is raised by 30 degrees when it should be in line. It's called a grade two dislocation."

Hildreth was guarding Rob Yanders when he suddenly fell to the floor in agony after colliding with a screen set by Chris Brown.

He said: "As soon as we made contact I knew I had done something quite serious.

"There was obviously no intent to hurt me but I'm 12 stone and he's about 22 stone so there was only going to be one winner."

Hildreth remained on the bench shouting encouragement to the team before heading to hospital later in the evening.

Meanwhile, coach Nick Nurse has confirmed he will take charge of the team at Newcastle on Friday (7.30pm).

Nurse made his comeback after throat surgery on Saturday and sounded a little hoarse after the game.

He said: "I felt ready to come back and coach.

"But I'm still a little concerned. My voice was only medium after a game where I didn't shout at all."