'Our backs are against the wall': But Sheffield Sharks will come out fighting in SLB title race

Sharks defeated Newcastle Eagles 90-79 at the Canon Medical Arena on Sunday to keep pace with their title rivals London Lions and Leicester Riders, with two weeks of the regular season remaining.

Sheffield ceded full control of the title race when they lost to Leicester in overtime on Friday, meaning they need to win all four of their remaining games - twice at home to London, twice away at Caledonia Gladiators - and hope Leicester slip up.

Leicester have to go to London next Wednesday night, so one of those teams will lose. London, the defending champions, are in pole position and know one win against Sheffield will tip the head-to-head in their favour and effectively eliminate Lyons’ side.

So the odds are stacked against the third-placed Sharks, but Lyons believes that scenario suits a side that is developing a siege mentality following the off-court distractions of recent weeks.

“We’re still chasing, it’s not in our hands completely, but we’ve got to make sure we put ourselves in a position that if it is ours to take then we’re ready to take it,” said Lyons.

“I’ll be watching the games involving London and Leicester, as I always do, but at the end of the day I don’t get too caught up in what the opposition is doing.

“We’ve got to win, if we win and put ourselves in position then what will be will be.”

A cluttered schedule at this time of season means teams are losing a lot more games than usual, and although on paper two trips to bottom club Caledonia looks favourable, they are two long bus trips to a resurgent Gladiators in the space of six days which could be as daunting as the pair of home games with London.

“I think it’s a very tough schedule at the moment,” said Lyons. “If you get someone at the wrong time it’s hard to match up your A-game if they’re fresher.

“Everyone has the same disadvantages, so to speak, so you just have to make sure your team is clicking from top to bottom as far as depth is concerned and hopefully you can get the wins.”

Lyons praised the “all-round effort” of his team in the win over Newcastle and agreed that the off-court distractions were creating an ‘us against the world’ mentality.

“The guys understand our backs are against the wall right now and we’ve got to play hard and we’ve got to stick with each other and do it together,” said Lyons, whose claims of unconscious bias against him are still being investigated by the league.

“The club has been very proud of how these guys have handled themselves all season. They’ve bought into what we’re trying to do and that’s all we can ask for.”