Marc Steutel is expecting to face a different Sheffield Sharks side to the one Newcastle Eagles defeated just over a month ago.

Back in September, the men in black welcomed the Sharks to the Vertu Motors Arena, with Steutel’s side coming out on top 78-73. Since then, the Eagles have gone on to win five games from seven, with their only defeats this term coming to Cheshire Phoenix in the Men’s Super League Basketball trophy.

Since the September defeat, the Sharks have made a number of roster moves and come into the Friday clash against the Eagles on the back of a four game winning streak.

Steutel said: “Sheffield are a different team for sure. We know that we saw them early. They’ve made a few roster tweaks since then with [Mahki] Mitchell leaving, [Jacob] Groves playing in a different role and bringing in [Rodney] Chatman the point guard. So they’re a good team.

“They’ve a good identity. They’re a team that knows the league well. It’s another challenge and one that we’re looking forward to. I think we’re both two teams trying to show how far they’ve both improved since that initial game and we understand what’s on the line.”

Including pre-season, the Eagles are now 11 games into the 2024/25 campaign.

While they have not played in domestic action since the back to back defeats to Cheshire Phoenix, they did manage to make it two wins from two earlier this week in Europe by beating Spartak Pleven 75-61 in the European North Basketball League.

During the summer, there was plenty of roster turnover on Tyneside. However, despite the host of new faces within the Eagles ranks, Steutel has been impressed so far this term by how his side have managed to tough out some wins, which included the clash against Pleven.

“I think every performance is different,” said Steutel.

“I think every performance and every game is different but I think the group is displaying a lot of toughness and a lot of togetherness.

“We’ve been really gritty in a lot of performances so I think the group have done a really good job of trying to buy in, trying to engage and trying to make sure that we play the right way how we want to.

“So I think the performances for sure can improve and I think we want to make sure we’re improving – it’s still early in the season.

The Eagles playcaller added: “We’ve done a good job of toughing out some wins. I though defensively, the whole roster against Pleven did a good job over the 40 minutes.

“There was obvious peaks and flows with that but I though defensively the whole roster was good. I though Seneca’s [Knight] decision making, playmaking and scoring – I thought he got a really good balance.

“I was really pleased with his output for sure. Cole [Long] gave us a spark in that first half for sure with his ability to space the floor but again, it was another team performance.

“I though Malcolm Delpeche in the second half was super impactful and efficient. Jordan Spencer maintained tempo for us throughout the game. It was a really good team performance and one that we want to take confidence from.”

Tickets for the Eagles next home game next Friday, 1 November, are available now from the box office.

The Friday night away game at Sharks, along with all 2024/25 SLB action, is free to watch live on DAZN.