Surrey United feel like a completely new team to Elvisi Dusha, and they will have to produce a performance unlike any other to halt Newcastle Eagles’ unbeaten run on Saturday.

The reigning champions take their 15-game perfect league sequence to Surrey on Saturday to face a side still recovering from two tough losses against Sheffield Sharks and Manchester Giants.

But Fab Flournoy and his side will face a different challenge from the side they swept aside in October.

“It does feel like a completely new team, however it also feels like I have played with theses guys for a long time,” said Dusha.

“We gel really well and are close on and off the court, more with this group than recent groups I’ve played with. We are slowly picking the right players and considering we still have an import spot that puts us in a great situation.”

He added: “Last weekend was very tough, by far the most heart-breaking weekend I have had in my pro career. We had two very winnable games, they should have been two wins. We played great defence for about 25 minutes but them let it slip away.”

The recent additions of Anthony Downing, Donatas Visockis, Rick Cardoso and Patrick Manifold have certainly bolstered Jack Majewski’s options.  But in the unstoppable league leaders he faces a fearsome foe.

Dusha, however, insists United have what it takes to cause an upset, but that they must be the first to believe it is possible.

“Newcastle in my eyes are the best in the league hands down, by far the most dangerous team home or away,” admitted Dusha. “It will take 40 minutes of complete focus and effort to beat them and we can’t afford to have these lapses or mistakes. I do believe we can get them just have to really want it.”

Last time they met:

Newcastle Eagles 105 Surrey United 78 (BBL Championship, Sport Central, 24/10/2014)

What they say:

Eagles forward Stuart Thomson: “We can never stop improving and are still working on many things in our games both as a team and individually.

“It’s a long trip to Surrey, but I think it will be a game for us to find our rhythm and get back into the swing of things after this Christmas break.”