The New Zealand Breakers will again be without in-form power forward Tai Wesley when they host fierce rivals Perth in the NBL.
Wesley was absent from the defending champions' controversial 87-86 loss to unbeaten leaders Melbourne United last Sunday because of the birth of his first child.
He will again be missing against the Wildcats in Auckland on Friday night, this time because of appendicitis.
Wesley is expected to be out for two to three weeks after having surgery on Wednesday night.
Coach Dean Vickerman is philosophical about losing a player who has scored 26 points in each of his past two matches.
He says the focus will have to be on who is available and Wesley's absence will mean more minutes for Reuben Te Rangi in the four spot.
Vickerman is also encouraged by how big men Charles Jackson and Alex Pledger combined on the court together against Melbourne, when skipper Mika Vukona was also missing because of a hamstring injury.
He is hopeful of having Vukona back against the Wildcats at Vector Arena.
"He has trained three days in a row and we've tested everything but we still have to check on his recovery after today and see how he fronts tomorrow," Vickerman said.
"This group has dealt with this sort of thing the whole year, players coming and going.
"We'll go into the game very similar to Melbourne and hopefully we might have Mika available for some minutes but, if not, we'll be ready."
The match between Perth (6-3) and the Breakers (4-4) pits the league's second and third placed teams against each other.
While the Breakers haven't played since their defeat to United, the Wildcats were in action on Wednesday, beating Illawarra 99-96 in Wollongong.
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