'We're a lot stronger in this window' - Sean Flood bullish on Ireland's chances ahead of vital window

Ireland men's basketball captain Sean Flood is confident the squad is in a much stronger place ahead of a pivotal international window in their 2027 World Cup qualification campaign.

After two losses from two in the February window, Mark Keenan's side host Azerbaijan on Thursday and then Kosovo on Sunday, needing to win both games to maintain any realistic hope of progressing to the next round of the qualification process.

Ireland sit bottom of Group A in pre-qualifiers after an 83-76 defeat against Kosovo in Pristina, subsequently losing 86-63 to Switzerland in the National Basketball Arena three days later.

Azerbaijan, who Ireland face in Tallaght tomorrow, pipped the Kosovons by a single point in Baku, while the Swiss sit comfortably top after two wins from two. The top-placed team from the three pre-qualifier groups will progress to the second phase, alongside the best performing second placed team, meaning Ireland need to emerge from this week with maximum points.

However, Flood, currently playing with London Lions, is bullish ahead of the two must-win encounters, arguing that the squad has been bolstered by a number of returning players, notably Sligo's John Carroll, whose international retirement proved short-lived.

"It's exciting times for us. Two must win games at home," Flood told Marie Crowe on Game On on RTÉ2fm.

"To progress in this competition, we'll have to win both these games heading into the February window.

"We're 0-2 in the group, both Kosovo and Azerbaijan are 1-1. And Switzerland are top of the group at 2-0. It's really do-or-die time where we need to come out with two wins in this window.

"It's known that we can play and compete at that level. We started the game maybe a little bit slow. They came out there