Richard (with ball in hand) has scored 135 points for Eagles this season

Newcastle Eagles forward Kadiri Richard says the squad have rallied to cope with the absence of Joe Chapman and player-coach Fab Flournoy.

Chapman is out for the season after picking up an Achilles injury, while Flournoy is recovering from a serious bout of bacterial pneumonia.

"You can't replace someone like Joe in terms of his scoring or reproduce the intensity Fab brings," Richard said.

"All of the guys are stepping up and trying to deliver whatever they can."

Richard added: "All over the floor guys are really doing their thing right now and it's working for us.

"Coach [Dave] Forrester has also been really excellent for us too."

Having dropped a couple of games before we had our break we were definitely hurting and so it was nice to get the winning feeling back Kadiri Richard

Reggie Jackson has been one of the players signed to help cover the shortage in numbers, making his third Eagles appearance in the win against Plymouth.

Meanwhile Eagles were 105-83 winners against Plymouth Raiders on Saturday, ending a run of two defeats.

"Having dropped a couple of games before we had our break we were definitely hurting and so it was nice to get the winning feeling back," Richard said.

"We feel like we are rolling again now exactly where we wanted to be heading down the season stretch.

"We're out at the front of the race which is always the best place to be."

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