THERE is “light at the end of the tunnel” for injured centre Dallin Bachynski as he closes in on making his long-awaited comeback from injury.

Bachynski missed all eight of Worcester Wolves’ games in February due to an issue with his Achilles tendon.

And the 26-year-old has been ruled out of Wolves’ trip to second-placed Newcastle Eagles in the British Basketball League tomorrow (7.30pm).

But head coach Paul James said Bachynski was making “gradual progress” and hinted he could be back for the following Friday’s home clash with Leeds Force.

“Dallin’s recovery is going very well,” James said.

“We are hoping he is going to be back fully fit and ready to go in the next week to 10 days.

“We know what kind of team we are with Dallin and what we are without him.

“To rush him back and for him to get a relapse would be no good at all so it has been a gradual process.

“He has been doing some light sessions and individual work with our strength and conditioning coaches.

“As far as being in shape aerobically and anaerobically, that’s fine.

“We are getting to the back end of this process now so there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

With Bachynski sidelined, Wolves were further depleted when Elvisi Dusha, Robert Gilchrist and Michael Ojo were called up to represent Albania, Great Britain and Nigeria respectively last weekend.

To add to James’ selection woes, there were concerns over the fitness of George Beamon ahead of their clash against Plymouth Raiders.

But the American overcame his ankle problem and fired a shorthanded Wolves side to a 95-84 victory over Plymouth with a 34-point haul.

His stunning performance has seen him named in this week’s BBL All-Star Five and James praised Beamon’s determination to fight for the club’s cause.

“George was very sore but he wanted to do everything possible to help the team win on the day,” James said.

“He understood the severity of our lack of numbers so he was desperate to play.

“The fitness test went very well and that’s the only reason why we played him. He had a tremendous game.

“He has been sore since then. He has had a few days off but we will get him ready for tomorrow’s game.

“That gamble paid off for us in getting a good win against Plymouth. He will be better still against Newcastle after a few days of rest.”

James was also keen to highlight the performances of University of Worcester students Dominic Ives and George Emms.

The duo played almost 40 minutes between them with Emms notching up nine points from the bench.

“George was probably the catalyst for us,” James said.

“He has always been a good three-point shooter and he took his opportunities really well.

"He was not shy about having a go and defensively he was really dogged, frustrating the person he was guarding, so he did a great job at both ends of the floor.

“I will have a lot more confidence now in putting him and Dominic on at points in games knowing they will be able to go out there, play as hard as they can and not let the team down.”