IT was disappointing to lose against Bristol Flyers in the British League Cup because it was a great opportunity for us to get to the semi-finals for the first time since I have been involved at the club.

We just weren’t at the races and our performance level was very poor in the 90-82 defeat. Bristol played exceptionally well and made some shots which we did not expect them to make.

We respect every team and Bristol are a new team to the BBL and have been one of the top teams in Division One for many years.

Their group of players have been together for about three to five years and they know each other inside out and are very well coached.

It was always going to be a tough game and Bristol have shown that they can play against anybody at a high level but it was the manner of the defeat that upset me more than anything else.

It was agonising looking at the footage from the match. I have watched it back and the team have watched it — we are grown men and things need to be pointed out at times.

There have been some team and individual meetings and, hopefully, we can see a response tomorrow at the University of Worcester Arena.

The players have potential and the ability and we have to make sure that every game we are focused 100 per cent.

But anytime we are going to give up more than 87 points in a match we are going to lose.

We have been working hard on our defence and trying to get the players to understand more about the rotations and that the ball is the most important thing on the floor and it is everybody’s job to stop it.

A bit more urgency is needed in the defensive ends and we have put a lot more work on that and we will keep working on it throughout the season.

There are times when there has been a lack of understanding and we have been together for only eight weeks.

It takes time to build chemistry unless you get lucky as we did last year when the guys came together quickly. We are starting all over again. It’s still very early days and there’s plenty of time to work on what we have to.

We are going to have a bit more of an energised team against the London Lions.

We have no injuries to report and we are looking forward to it because it’s a special game and sees the return of Zaire Taylor.

Zaire was the most valuable player in the league last season and I am sure he will be looking to put on a performance for his new team.

We need to make sure we come out of the game with a win.

Zaire can be unstoppable but, hopefully, he doesn’t have one of those nights and, more importantly, we come together as a team and start to click.