READING Rockets face a winner-takes-all clash at Manchester Magic as they aim to seal the runners-up spot in NBL Division One on Saturday (6.30pm).

Manuel Pena Garces’ injury-hit squad saw their astonishing 19-match winning run ended with back-to-back defeats last weekend, with Rockets going down 76-64 to newly crowned champions Team Northumbria on Saturday, before being stunned 73-66 by Loughborough Student Riders the next night.

It leaves the Reading side (20-5) with the same record as this week’s hosts, with Rockets having overcome Magic 105-92 in their earlier league game.

Pena Garces (pictured) is hoping there will be a positive reaction to his side’s brace of defeats as they look to grab second place.

He admitted: “It was a difficult weekend for us overall and we are disappointed not to be able to take the title challenge into the final weekend.

“We must, however, congratulate Team Northumbria on claiming the title and playing a great game against us.

“Coach Marc (Steutel, Team Northumbria) had his team well-prepared, disciplined throughout the game, and ultimately worthy winners of the league, so many congratulations to him and his team. That was obviously disappointing for us on Saturday and unfortunately we were unable to pick ourselves up on Sunday against Loughborough and ended up coming out of the weekend with two losses.”

He continued: “Despite these coming at a bad time in terms of the league, I think we will learn the most valuable lessons from these as we attempt to finish runners-up and give ourselves the next best possible seeding for the play-offs, a competition that is exciting and one that we want to win.

“Collectively, we will analyse where we went wrong, take accountability for our mistakes and errors, and look to make some changes and adaptations in how we are and how we prepare for this weekend’s game against Manchester.

“This is a perfect opportunity for us to bounce back and give ourselves a big lift heading into the postseason but we are under no illusion this will be a difficult game, especially away from home, and we will need an improved performance if we are to secure the win.”

He concluded: “Whilst we need to remain humble, I am still very proud of my players and I think to win as many games as we have in a row is a big credit to them, but this hasn’t enabled us to win anything yet and that is what we want to put right and certainly where our thinking will be for the remainder of the season.”

Rockets go into this weekend’s final game off the back of their two lowest offensive performances of the season and are still without the long-term injured Joel Keeble and probably 19-year-old forward Ibu Jassey Demba (broken hand).

Better news for the Reading team has come with the improvement to Under 18 player Fidel Gomez de Enterria Lopez, who is hoping to shake off an ankle injury.