Pride is the overriding emotion pushing Newcastle Eagles head coach Marc Steutel through a punishing schedule as his beaten but unbowed roster continues to battle hard.

There’s no respite for the men in black as a brutal run of four games in eight days sees Trophy finalists Bristol Flyers back on Tyneside.

But Steutel insists he couldn’t ask more of his depleted team as Newcastle look to snap a four-game losing streak without Mike Okauru and Malcolm Delpeche.

“I want to talk about how proud I am of my team to play three games in five days with the third of those games a European play-off quarter-final, first leg away from home,” said Steutel.

“When you look at the travel, coming off the back of a game against London on Sunday, and the fact that we’re missing Mike and Malcolm it’s been an incredible effort.

“I am exceptionally proud of how my team battled and competed and I’m confident they’ll do the same against Bristol.

“Obviously the first half in Bakken we played exceptionally well and in the second half, while our effort and our intent was still there, the schedule definitely took its toll at certain moments of the game.

“That being said, only to be down one possession, with a chance to overturn that at home in front of our fans next week, is really positive.”

If the 87-84 result in Denmark wasn’t the one Newcastle wanted heading into what promises to be another tough clash against the Flyers, then the Eagles face Bristol buoyed by a performance that stunned last season’s ENBL winners on their homecourt.

Few could have anticipated the fast start that opened up a commanding first half lead — let alone the firepower, focus and fight that almost enabled Steutel to add another European glory night to his bulging CV.

And he added: “I’m really, really proud of my team. My guys are battling through ridiculously challenging circumstances with the schedule and I’m such a proud coach when I look at how this team’s competed and fought and tried to do everything that we asked of them.

“I think that we did a lot of really positive things against Bakken and we need to do the same again when we tip off against Bristol.

“But the impact of the schedule and the load it’s taken on the guys is something we need to look at before we suit up against Flyers and I’m conscious of that.”

Neither Okauru nor Delpeche will be available this weekend — with the latter now confirmed as out for the season following successful knee surgery.

And the duo’s absence has been compounded by the loss of Jordan Spencer earlier this year.

But Steutel’s shorthanded roster almost found a way to win in Aarhus and the Great Britain playcaller remains confident the next victory is just around the corner.

“We came so close to winning at the Bears against a team that hadn’t played since last Thursday,” he added. “We’d had two games in that same period!

“I saw everything I needed to know about this group in Denmark and we’re looking forward to facing the Flyers before taking a shot at Bakken next week and trying to get the outcome that everyone wants.”

Remaining tickets for tonight’s Flyers clash at the Vertu Motors Arena are available via boxoffice.newcastle-eagles.com