Marc Steutel described key man Malcolm Delpeche as a ‘warrior’ before vowing to protect Newcastle Eagles’ biggest body as best he can.

The former Bristol favourite bagged a double double in Sunday’s disappointing defeat at early Championship pacesetters London Lions.

And Delpeche ran himself into the ground as he was asked to prop up the short-handed Eagles in the paint for 32 gruelling minutes.

With no sign of Darius Defoe or Will Neighbour returning from injury any time soon, Newcastle’s go to guy inside can expect more major court time against Surrey 89ers on Friday.

And coach Steutel said: “Positionally — and what he brings to the team in terms of his passion — Malcolm is massive for us right now.

“He did a great job keeping us in the game at the start against London and I couldn’t really ask for any more.

“Malcom set the physical tone as the game wore on but you could see that his work rate was taking a toll.

“He’s the kind of guy who plays 100 per cent all of the time when he’s out there on court.

“I have to look at our schedule and try to balance his minutes as best as I can but we’re short of bodies right now.

“I know I can rely on Malcolm right now. He’s a warrior for us.”

Given a full-strength roster and a fully-fit Defoe, Neighbour and Josh Ward-Hibbert, Newcastle would have been more than a match for London on their Copper Box court.

And even in the absence of their big three, the Eagles kept the Lions keen until fatigue kicked in midway through the final quarter.

Steutel refused to look for excuses in the wake of a frustrating 89-79 loss and is already looking for improvements against Surrey.

“This group’s really gritty and chippy and we never, ever accept defeat until the final whistle blows,” added the Eagles’ playcaller.

“But I just thought that first half in London we didn’t do a good enough job of being connected on defence and that has to be better against the 79ers.

“I really wasn’t happy with our defensive intent and our defensive output and that’s been central to our success this season.

“That lack of attention to detail on defence impacted upon our offence and you could see that didn’t flow as well as usual.

“I don’t think we really stuck to the same offensive concepts at the weekend and that was frustrating for me as a coach. I know we can do better.

“Things did pick up to a degree after the break and we did do a better job in most aspects.

“But it shows there’s room for improvement — not just on Friday but moving forward.

“I want to see consistency and a greater commitment against a Surrey side that’s enjoyed a good win against Caledonia and will come here full of confidence.”

Tickets for Friday’s Championship clash at the Vertu Motors Arena with a 7:30pm tip are available from our box office.