Mark Clark is looking for his Lions side to put on a show when they face Newcastle Eagles in the WBBL Cup at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, on Sunday.
“The important thing is we want to put on a show for the fans, we haven’t won the Cup before so we want to put Lions’ name on it, but we also want to show everyone how good the WBBL is” he said.
Lions head into the game as strong favourites against an Eagles side who have recently seen the departure of their coach and two key players, but Clark is concentrating on his own team: “I’ve said before it doesn’t matter if we’re playing Bourges or Newcastle, we have to concentrate on our own team.
“All concerns I had about a two-week break were dispelled at Leicester, and if we come out with the same defensive intensity we can win the game. If we play at our tempo we’ll be fine, I’m assuming that they’re going to be on short rotation, so they’ll want to slow us down. It’s down to us whether we’re able to dictate the pace.”
It's been a tumultuous time for Eagles recently with coach Chris Bunten, leading scorer Ebony Horton and young British talent Abi Lowe all departing. Horton was leading the team in points (16.2ppg) and assists (3.1apg) while playing a team-high 30 minutes, and had averaged 21 points per game in their Cup run. Lowe, who has now joined Durham Palatinates, had seen her minutes drop from 28 to 18 per game this season, with her points also falling from 11.3 to six per game, but was still a key member of the Eagles team.
Maddy McVicar is the only other Eagle averaging double digit points with 11.4 per game. while Chloe Gaynor dominates on the boards with 9.7 rebounds per game, adding 7.5 points.
Despite their recent upheavals, Clark won’t be taking Eagles lightly:
“My other concern is that adversity can bring a group together and produce a great performance. Half of the remaining players were in the team that went on a fantastic run to last season’s play-off final. They’re a great organisation, and they’ll want to perform in front of a big crowd.”
Clark admits that he isn’t sure exactly who his team will face on Sunday:
“Maddy McVicar is very, very good scorer and shoots the ball well, while Rachel Bland is really experienced. I’m not exactly sure who’ll show up but they won’t want to be embarrassed in front of 9,000 people.”
Lions are hopeful that Leah McDerment will be fit to play some part, which will give them a full-strength squad for the game, and Clark is also planning to take some of the younger players: “we’ll give up two or three academy players, depending if Leah is fit to put a kit on. It will be a good opportunity for them regardless how many minutes they play.”
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