Britain suffered defeats at the hands of Poland, Turkey and Israel at London's O2 Arena, but were playing without a long list of star names including Robert Archibald, Andrew Sullivan, Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Luol Deng.

 

While Deng is definitely out, Mensah-Bonsu could arrive any day as he waits on a new contract with the Toronto Raptors, and both Archibald and Sullivan hope to be back as the team heads to Spain for three more games this week.

 

Archibald is Britain's most experienced player and an influential figure in Chris Finch's team who has been sorely missed so far.

 

But he has revealed that he is on course for a return in Spain, where he plays his club basketball for Unicaja Malaga.

 

Archibald said: "I had my last full workout yesterday without any problem, so next time the team has a full practice I'll be there and then play some minutes in the friendlies in Spain next week.

 

"It's just a case of getting my fitness back and we'll go from there."

 

Archibald admitted he had a frustrating weekend, not being able to play in front of the home fans and watching his short-handed team-mates struggle.

 

He said: "The team has been really competitive, playing hard, but obviously its difficult when we're missing our top five players.

 

"We're really a little behind talent-wise right now but there's no shortage of fight."

 

Joel Freeland (pictured) and Dan Clark were the stand-out players for Britain during Game On At The O2 , but face a battle to keep their places when Archibald and Mensah-Bonsu return.

 

Finch said: "I thought our frontcourt has been very good all tournament and they did a good job of executing our stuff.

 

"They have some nice little combinations.

 

"I like our guards too, but we have to find a way to get them some more shots and to move the ball a little crisper and be a bit quicker."

 

Archibald (pictured) can be the key, with the 29-year-old former NBA man bringing experience and composure to the team.

 

He said: "I've played against a lot of the better guys we'll face in Europe and a little bit in the NBA, and I think I can take some of the pressure off the younger players.

 

"Some of them have been put in a role they're not accustomed to, asked to play more minutes, score more points or take on greater responsibility on the defensive end.

 

"When you add a couple more players, everyone will get roles their more accustomed to."

 

While Turkey were the class of the field in London, Britain's warm-up games only get tougher this week, with both Slovenia and world champions Spain on the bill in Seville.

 

Both teams are in Britain's group at EuroBasket, and the Slovenia game in particular could give an indication of the team's chances of getting into the knockout stages.

 

Despite Britain's problems, Archibald believes they can continue to aim high.

 

The belief comes from the way Britain were able to upset the odds in the past two years, coming all the way from Europe's Division B to qualify for EuroBasket at blinding speed.

 

Archibald said: "We didn't know what to expect two years ago trying to get out of Division B, we didn't know what to expect last year trying to qualify for the Europeans and we're in the same boat now.

 

"We don't have a real long track record at this level, but we'll just prepare as well as we can and hopefully upset those teams who aren't considering us a threat."