Attewell inspired a fourth-period turnaround

Derby Trailblazers assistant coach Steve Baxter says Dave Attewell's return is a massive boost for the club.

Attewell came out of retirement to score 13 points and nine rebounds from the bench as Derby secured a 100-90 win at Leicester Warriors on Saturday.

The win sees Trailblazers move off the bottom of Division One of the EBL.

Baxter said: "Dave's a great team player and he does so many intangible things that good players do and a lot of people don't recognise."

Last season's player of the year Attewell played for just under 22 minutes but inspired Derby to a fine final period comeback.

We've won two league games in a row and we need to make sure we don't take a step back in our next match Trailblazers coach Steve Baxter

Trailblazers were behind at the end of the second and third quarter.

But thanks to Attewell and a career-best figures for Martyn Gayle, who converted six of his 11 three-pointers on his way to a game-high of 34 points, Derby secured the win.

"Last season, he was carrying quite a few injuries which made his performances more impressive," Baxter added.

"Earlier in the season, Dave had some other commitments which meant he could not dedicate his time to us. We didn't know until the day before the game that he could definitely play, even though he had been back in training for several weeks."

The victory was just Derby's second in the league this season but is their second in a row, as postponements mean their last league game was the win over Manchester at the start of December.

Baxter added: "Now it's important that we build from this. We've won two league games in a row and we need to make sure we don't take a step back in our next match."

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