The battle for play-off places hots up tonight when Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders take on Cheshire Jets at John Sandford Sports Centre (7.30).

The Jets are two points behind Riders in the table but with a game in hand, so victory for Leicester would give them a huge psychological boost over their rivals.

"When you get to this time of the season every game is important," said Riders coach Rob Paternostro.

"But, given their record and ours, it certainly would be good for us if we can come away with the win.

"Most importantly for us, though, is we are at home. We are on a nice little run at John Sandford and we want to keep that going.

"If we can take care of business at our place and pick up a few wins on the road, we should be in good shape come the end of the season."

The two clubs' cup exploits mean this is the first time they have met this season, with two visits to Chester still to come for Riders.

With the season series used as a tie-breaker should teams finish level, it will also be important that Riders win their only home game of the three meetings if they are to claim it.

Paternostro said: "Tony Windless is a big advocate of winning the season series and he is always preaching that to his team-mates."

Windless was the hero last weekend with the game-winning shot against Plymouth.

Paternostro said: "Anyone who has followed this league for last 10 years or so knows how vital he can be, so it's never a surprise to us when he makes a big basket.

"I thought Bradd Wierzbicki played very well. He is becoming more of a distributor, as his seven assists showed. Jason Johnson was very efficient offensively and was able to score some timely baskets for us. We are getting contributions from everybody and we are in a nice rhythm at home right now."

Riders: A Westbrooks, Williams, Fernandez, Wierzbicki, Bishop, Durant, I Westbrooks, Lamble, James, Windless, Johnson.

Jets: Davis, Young, Brandreth, Myers, Gayle, Simpson, O'Reilly, Murphy, Peterson, Hamilton, Marks.