The recovery cycle is over for Kristy Lavin

Great Britain's women will be without three leading players from last summer when they start their bid to stay in European Division A next month.

Mark Clark's team play Finland, Bosnia and Romania in the relegation play-offs without the unavailable Megan Moody, Georgia Jones and Johannah Leedham.

Kristy Lavin, who missed the 2008 campaign after undergoing knee surgery, will return to action.

GB won only one of their eight games in summer in a tough qualifying group.

Moody, who averaged 13.1 points last summer, has decided not to join the team for family reasons.

The back court pairing of Jones and Leedham, who improved considerably throughout the summer programme, have also been ruled out because their colleges in the US will not release them in mid-season.

"Obviously I'm frustrated because it's during the season," Clark told BBC Sport. "It's not ideal because obviously there are European pro player commitments that we also have to manage with."

The team almost certainly needs to stay in Division A to have a chance of being awarded a hosts' spot for the 2012 Olympics.

Relegation would mean Clark's team would have no chance of qualifying for a European finals before the London Games.

"My understanding is that it's not that cut and dried," said Clark. "But the most important thing is that we come ready to play on the 4th January and don't finish playing until the 19th January.

"We're still ahead of any target that was set for us and we're not going to start falling short of those objectives in January."

The return of Lavin, a force in the 2007 promotion series that clinched a place in Division A, is also a source of great optimism for Clark.

"Both on and off the court she's in many ways the heart and soul of what we're trying to achieve," he said.

"Not having her in the summer was a big loss but she's now getting some minutes in Spain.

"I'm not expecting her to come back with the same game sharpness the way she led us in terms of points the summer before last but she will have an impact. She's going to get better every game as well."

We were more than capable of playing against those teams but when we stutter offensively, those teams make you pay GB head coach Mark Clark

Clark's team will return for three home games in a row in Sheffield, Nottingham and Worcester after opening their campaign in sub-zero Finland on 4 Jan.

"Our schedule has been kind to us," contends Clark. "We've got the trip out to Finland and then we've got the three home games.

"It's not a ridiculous schedule - it gives us as good an opportunity as we can have and I think the three host venues are going to sell a lot of tickets and there'll be a good home advantage for us."

Clark, who will be assisted by the experienced and hugely respected Canadian coach Ken Shields for the six-game programme, wants his players to aim for consistency in their performances.

"That's what playing against the A Division teams is about," he said. We were more than capable of playing against those teams (in summer) but when we started to stutter offensively, those teams are good enough to make you pay."

Squad: Kim Butler, Lisa Hutchinson (both Leon), Kate Butters (Nottingham), Stefanie Collins, Meagan Hoffman (UWIC), Sally Kaznica (Guadalajaram), Kristy Lavin (Verona Norte), Rosalee Mason (Colmiers), Sarah McKay (Navarra), Helen Naylor (Leeds), Sarah Naylor (Sheffield), Charlotte Stoddart (Manchester), Harriet Yea (Barking-Rhondda)

Schedule:

4 Jan v Finland (a) in Forssa

7 Jan v Bosnia-Hercegovina (h) in Sheffield (EIS)

10 Jan v Romania (h) in Nottingham

13 Jan v Finland (h) in Worcester (Univ)

16 Jan v Bosnia-Hercegovina (a) in Sarajevo

19 Jan v Romania (a) in Targoviste

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