READING Rockets (4-1) will take their four-game winning streak to the north of England this weekend when they take on Liverpool on Saturday evening (5pm) before travelling back to the Midlands to take on NBL Division Two outfit Team Birmingham Elite in the National Cup third round on Sunday (4.20pm).

Rockets were victorious for the fourth time in succession last Sunday when they beat Barking Abbey 99-73 to move into second position in the NBL Division One table.

This weekend’s league opponents Liverpool have had a positive start to life in Division One after promotion last term with two wins out of the first five games against Barking Abbey and Bradford Dragons.

Sunday’s National Cup opponents have started 1-2 in Division Two with Team Birmingham most recently losing to former Division One champions Manchester Magic 67-53.

Rockets head coach Alan Keane was pleased with the Barking Abbey win after a shaky start and is looking forward to this weekend’s match-ups, despite potentially being short-handed in both games.

He said: “We started the game against Barking pretty slowly, but we didn’t press the panic button and we kept chipping away.

"Having been down by as many as 14 points in the game, we showed our positivity and being the best we can in every moment really helped us to overcome some hurdles and record another win with a very pleasing second half performance, especially without AJ (Carr).

“This weekend will be a really tough test. Liverpool have come into the league with some good talent on their roster as well as some real experience that this league requires. They have already recorded a couple of wins and making the long journey there is also something to factor in. We will be solely focused on this game first before moving on to Sunday’s cup game.”

He continued: “The game against Birmingham will also be a tricky test, especially as we have to leave one of our two biggest influences so far this season out in (imports) AJ or Nick Richards. Birmingham will believe they can win the game, especially with their style of basketball, but for us it will be about taking one game at a time and being the best we can be during each game."

Rockets go in to this weekend’s double header with Carr a major injury doubt with a hamstring injury for the two upcoming games.