Marc Steutel has implored his Newcastle Eagles roster to stay poised and stick to the plan ahead of the toughest double header of the season.

The men in black face title challengers Sheffield Sharks — spearheaded by former Vertu Motors Arena favourite Rickey McGill — twice in 48 hours this weekend.

And Newcastle will have to be at the top of their game if the 2025 Trophy winners are to snap a five-game domestic losing streak and stay on course for a top four finish.

“Sheffield are a really good basketball team,” said Steutel. “They’ve shown that with their Cup win and where they are in the league.

“They’ve been able to find a way to adapt. They brought in Rodney Chatman after the season started and straight away it was clear how talented he is.

“He goes down and they bring in Rickey McGill. It shows you the ability that they have to recruit well and bring players in — just like they did with Donovan Clay.

“Then they’ve got core guys Jordan Ratinho and Rodney Glasgow Jnr plus domestic talent like Jamell Anderson.

“They’re a really good team but so are we. We’ve got to focus on ourselves. We’ve got to make sure that we’re really solid in multiple areas of the game.

“We’ve got to try to play with a level of poise over 40 minutes and we’ve got to try to control our intensity.”

McGill returns to Tyneside for the first time since his mid-season switch from Dziki Warszawa and Steutel knows all about the threat that last season’s European North Basketball League (ENBL) regular season MVP carries.

The do-it-all guard was on the losing side when the Eagles locked horns with Dziki earlier this season but his former coach added: “Rickey is someone that we know really well.

“Last year he showed his level when he was awarded the ENBL MVP award in a Newcastle jersey.

“I was proud that Rickey was able to demonstrate his impact with us during a really good European campaign. He doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses in his game.

“He’s able to impact the game, score in multiple ways and be the playmaker. He’s a player with no real deficiencies in the way in which he attacks.

“Rickey’s a smart player and a real competitor. Outside of when he’s playing against Newcastle I wish him all the best. I have a lot of time for him.”

Steutel is boosted by the return of Seneca Knight after the US star was laid low by illness last weekend.

And the Eagles clearly missed their dynamic summer recruit against Leicester as the visitors slipped to fifth league loss on the bounce.

With a fourth-placed Championship finish still very much up for grabs the hosts will be desperate to halt that skid against the Sharks on Tyneside tonight.

And Steutel added: “I’ve been aware of what Malcolm (Delpeche) brings to this group and I think that’s more evident now.

“Other players have to make sure that they step up and that we all chip in. We’re in a difficult patch and we have to make sure that we’re putting ourselves in a position where we want to be.

“Everything right now is about trying to do all that we can to win games and try to make sure that we move our way up the league table. That’s our sole focus. We’ve got to try and stay together.

“We’ve got to try and take some confidence from some of the incredible performances that we’ve had this year — some of those incredible wins domestically and in Europe.”

Tickets for tonight’s clash against Sheffield are available via boxoffice.newcastle-eagles.com