Tigers to begin BBL Cup defence

Garbelotto won the BBL Cup in his first season as Tigers coach

Everton Tigers coach Tony Garbelotto is expecting a tough battle to retain the BBL Cup this season as they take on Sheffield Sharks on Friday.

The Tigers travel to the current BBL league leaders in the much-anticipated quarter-final clash.

"We lose on Friday night and we won't be defending that trophy," he told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"So I think the guys will be absolutely focused and hopefully there is going to be a great performance in us."

He added: "We have yet to play Sheffield and it will be a big challenge. I feel we match up well with them, especially if Flo Larkai comes back from injury.

I was not happy with the whole weekend and we looked out of sorts in both games Everton Tigers coach Tony Garbelotto

"This will be a highly exciting game to watch, I am pretty sure about that."

The winner of the contest will face a potential two legged semi-final clash against Leicester Riders.

While Sheffield remain top of the BBL Championship table after two wins last weekend, the Tigers had a mixed set of results.

A 84-60 victory over London Capital was followed by a 84-69 defeat by Glasgow Rocks.

"I was not happy with the whole weekend and we looked out of sorts in both games," Garbelotto continued.

"The Capitals game was a good win against an improved side and I was able to give both Dani Gonzalez and Darrell Bethune major minutes, which they have worked hard to get and deserved.

"Sunday was again one of those games that you would like to forget. We were up 10 points at half time and we ended up losing by 15.

"They just wanted to win more than us and that is something that I cannot accept."