AFTER four near misses, Durham Wildcats head coach Dave Elderkin is confident his side's maiden BBL win is just around the corner.

The Wildcats will make their BBL Cup debut when they entertain Plymouth Raiders at Newton Aycliffe this evening, with the winners set to travel to Sheffield Eagles on Friday.

The club's opening four BBL Trophy games all ended in defeat, but the matches against Newcastle Eagles and Scottish Rocks confirmed the newcomers' ability to compete at the highest level.

The challenge now is to turn promising performances in victories, and while Plymouth will provide a stiff test, Elderkin is confident in his side's abilities.

"We all know the win will accelerate the programme we have place," he said. "And we're all very confident that it's coming.

"The four games so far have contained spells where we were really productive and other periods where we struggled. They've obviously been the periods we've focused on.

"The Eagles did a particularly good job on us in terms of their defence, but when you look at their results since (Newcastle thrashed Sheffield 86-67 in their most recent outing) it maybe puts our results against them into a bit of context."

It is a fortnight since Durham suffered their last defeat against the Rocks, and having been forced to fly in two American imports just days before his side's opening game of the season, Elderkin has appreciated the opportunity to spend some time on the practice court working on tactics.

The Wildcats travelled to Edinburgh for a change of scenery, and played practice games against the Edinburgh Kings and a representative side from Worcester University.

"It's been nice to be able to try out a few things," said Elderkin. "We've been trying to cement the right style of play for this team."Playing the two games has helped because it's flagged up a few issues and helped us iron out a few flaws."

Durham cannot afford too many slip-ups tonight, as they host a Plymouth side who are expected to compete for silverware this season.

The Raiders signalled their intent earlier this week when they replaced point guard Ben Smith with Jeremy Bell, who was voted the BBL's Most Valuable Player when he played for Chester Jets last season.

"They're obviously taking Durham seriously if they've rushed through that change this week," said Elderkin. "All the pre-season predictions had them in the top three so we know it's going to be a tough test.

"They haven't started as well as they would have wanted, but they'll be hoping the change of personnel gives them a new impetus. We have to guard against that."

The Wildcats should have a change of personnel themselves next month as Paul Elderkin has resumed training following a shoulder ligament injury.

Paul, who is one of two Elderkin brothers on the Wildcats roster, will not be involved tonight, but should feature in the opening league game with Chester in seven days time.

"That'll be a big boost," said Elderkin senior. "The little niggles we took out of the last game have all cleared up, so that's good news.

"And the added bonus is Paul has finished his rehab after almost two months. He's resumed training and hopefully he's not too far away."