RAMPANT Durham Wildcats will be given the ultimate test of their progress when they travel to play treble-winning Leicester Riders tonight.

After their superb win double against Surrey United and London Lions last weekend, the Wildcats head to the East Midlands with the odds stacked against them. And coach Lee Davie is under no illusions as to the test that lies ahead..

"I think they've only lost there twice in the BBL Championship during the last year, there so it's still an extremely difficult place to play," said Davie. "They're a very good team and still making the transition from Anthony Downing to their new guy, Mike Black.

"Although Black hasn't played too much so far, we're expecting him to be fully integrated into what going's on down there now and expect him to play heavy minutes against us.

"The Riders are a big, physical team and like to grind you out in the half-court.

"They use their talent, experience, height and athleticism in small areas to try and shrink the floor down."

"We just need to keep on doing what we've been doing over the past weekend.

"Defensively, we have try to be as disruptive as we can, by getting stops and really forcing the tempo in transition.

"I think we probably stand our best chance if it's a fast-paced game - that would certainly suit us better than it would suit them."

The clash with Riders is the first of a double-header on the road for Wildcats, who also head to Manchester to face the Giants on Sunday.

Leicester will meet Durham after a crunch game at Esh Group Eagles Newcastle last night.

Remarkably, with just over two months left in the BBL Championship season, the Giants and Wildcats are meeting for the first time, and for both teams the upcoming three meetings could be crucial as they both chase for a play-off spot.

"We're playing Manchester three times in six weeks and those three games will heavily impact our season in trying to make the play-offs," said Davie.

"We are three wins ahead of the Giants, so it's really about trying to take advantage of this round of games against Manchester."

Davie is expecting a tough game on Sunday, not just because it will be the second road game in two nights for his Wildcats, but because he feels the Giants have some strong players on the roster.

He said: "You've got David Aliu, who is having an outstanding year, one of the players of the season so far, in my opinion.

"James Jones is obviously playing well right now, while Rob Marsden and David Watts are playing well inside.

"Then you've got the experience of Stefan Gill and Yorick Williams, and they've got a very interesting team as they can get up and down quite quickly and have shooters who can space the floor."

Davie added: "The Giants have been playing quite well, they've played a lot of good teams quite closely, are a high-scoring team, a fast-paced team, which kind of suits us as well."