Finch only focused on Macedonia win - which could secure qualification

GREAT Britain can seal EuroBasket qualification with two games to spare if they down FYR Macedonia in Skopje tonight - but head coach Chris Finch is refusing to look too far afield.

LOOKING FOR CALM: GB can secure their EuroBasket qualification with victory over Macedonia - but coach Chris Finch has urged calm ahead of the clash

Finch's side will be bidding to notch up their sixth straight win and keep their qualification unbeaten run going - but will face their sternest test to date with Macedonia - undefeated at home since 2005.

When the two sides met earlier in the competition in Newcastle, Great Britain required a last-gasp three-pointer from Chicago Bulls captain Luol Deng to force overtime before edging the win 104-96.

In that match former Toronto Raptor Pops Mensah-Bonsu led the way for Great Britain with 27 points while Deng weighed in with 23.

Macedonia meanwhile, will tonight rely on the services of America-born Bo McCalebb, who netted 30 points against Great Britain two weeks ago.

And Finch is only too aware of the threat Macedonia will pose.

"Macedonia are an excellent team and playing in front of their home crowd provides us with a great challenge" he said.

"With each group game come twists and turns depending on results of other games - we are simply focused on tonight's game.

"McCalleb has played well for them. He can really score so we will need to step up our defensive effort.

"The guys are ready to play again after having the last bye. The extra days of preparation always help but at this point we are ready to get to game time and compete."

Meanwhile, Great Britain's women's side will bid for a third straight win when they head to Slovak Republic, having edged past Ukraine on Friday.

Great Britain downed Ukraine 57-49 to hand them a three-way tie with Slovak Republic and Germany at the top of their qualification group at the halfway point of the competition.

Even then, head coach Tom Maher insisted he wanted more in terms of performance, and his assistant Damian Jennings is also looking for improvements against Slovak Republic.

"We are of course firstly looking for a win, which we understand will be extremely tough" said Jennings.

"We are also looking for a performance improvement as we know there are several areas of our game where we are simply not maximising our potential, and this was evidently apparent against the Ukraine."

The top two sides qualify for next summer's EuroBasket finals in Poland, and GB will be looking to gain revenge for their 76-67 home loss when they hosts the Slovaks at the NIA in Birmingham ten days ago.