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The Albury-Wodonga Bandits leading scorer Ken-Jah Bosley is facing three weeks on the sidelines.
It comes after the star combo guard went down in the first quarter of Saturday's game against Hobart with an ankle injury.
Bosley said he rolled his ankle after landing on the foot of another player.
"It was upsetting because I started the game off well and thought it was going to be one of those games for me," Bosley said.
"Once I rolled it I thought I had broken it because I heard a pop.
"I've rolled my ankle before but I'd never heard anything quite like that.
"It was just one of those freak things that can happen in basketball sometimes.
"I obviously want to come back faster than that, but as far as what I've been diagnosed with, it will be three weeks."
The absence of Bosley hasn't come at a good time for the Bandits who have only won one of their last four games.
The next couple of rounds will also prove to be a challenge for the home side, with a big task this weekend against third placed Kilsyth.
That will be followed by games against Nunawading and the Melbourne Tigers, who both sit within the top five teams in the NBL1 competition so far this season.
Derrick Scott and Jarrod Molner are two of the players Bosley said might step up to start in his place this weekend.
"This whole stretch of games that I'll miss will be tough," Bosley said.
"All I can do is stay positive and cheer for my teammates.
"If I sulk because I can't play it's going to cause a lot of negative energy around the team.
"I don't want to be associated with that, I want to be associated with anything that's positive for the team."
Bosley also pinpointed the Bandits' defence as the biggest aspect the team needs to improve on to achieve success out on the court.
"We're fine scoring, we're just not a very good defensive team right now," Bosley said.
"I feel like we have the pieces to be a really good defensive team in Torren and Manny that are big athletic guys and Cirkook who's versatile and can guard multiple positions.
"For some reason, we're just not clicking at that end."
Saturday's clash is also set to mark the Bandits first home game since their huge 60-point loss to Ballarat back in round five.
Bosley said the side will be looking to use the energy of the home crowd to their advantage, to help get them back to their previous form.
"The last time we played here wasn't very good, so hopefully it will be better than that," Bosley said.
"We love playing with the fan base we have here.
"After being on the road for four straight games, there's still no fan base better than our fan base.
"We have to use that to our advantage because we're short of men and struggling right now.
"We need anything to help give us a boost of energy."
The Bandits will take on the Kilsyth Cobras this Saturday at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre for an 8pm start time.
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