Nicholas sat out most of Saturday night’s shock defeat to Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence and did not play at all the following day against the Canberra Gunners after an Achilles tendon injury flared up.

Coach Brad Chalmers said a decision would be left until as late as possible on Sunday but admitted the Bandits would not be taking any risks.

“Yeah, he’ll be a game-time call,” Chalmers said.

“But at this stage I’d say he’s unlikely to play.

“We’d rather err on the side of caution, he’s probably got a month or so of having to manage this injury.”

Nicholas is averaging 19.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.2 steals per game while shooting an incredible 60.4 per cent from the field and when fully fit, has presented a match-up problem most teams have struggled to adequately deal with.

Regardless of whether the 197-centimetre swingman plays, Chalmers fully expects his squad to bounce back from a decidedly average fortnight that has seen the Border outfit slip from first to fifth in the SEABL’s East conference standings.

“It wasn’t a great weekend (in Canberra),” Chalmers said.

“Plenty of reasons but we really didn’t play well defensively.

“We’ve hit a snag and now we’ve got to stare it down.

“I said from the start we’re a work in progress; we had a good rhythm early but need to understand there were always going to be growing pains.

“We need to work through this, it’s a combination of intensity and not working for each other.

“The guys haven’t lost belief, they’re a confident bunch.

“I’m not concerned about the offence, but the defence side of things, that’s non-negotiable.”

In a rematch of the famous 2012 championship decider, the Bandits play host to a Rangers outfit that, much like Albury-Wodonga, has undergone a significant roster overhaul.

New faces this year include Melbourne United players Lucas Walker and Chris Patton, along with former Hobart and Frankston forward Chuck Long.

But the Rangers still look to import Daequon Montreal as their go-to man and his battle with countryman and reigning player of the month Cory Dixon will go a long way to deciding the outcome.

Skipper Michael Watson admitted the Bandits had been guilty of letting complacency creep in at training over the past few weeks.

But the veteran guard said he was still confident the Border club could withstand the powerful Rangers line-up.

“We’ve had a good chat and a good review of where we’re at,” Watson said.

“Our standards at training had dropped a bit but the good thing is we’ve recognised and rectified it.

“Dandy are a bit of an unknown, it’s a different team from the past few years, we know their players individually but this is a new group.

“They’ll be well-prepared and they’ve got a lot of size.

“And Daequon Montreal is still the best player in the league, we’ve got to stop him, first and foremost.”

Tip-off at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre on Sunday is 2pm.