With the inaugural and historic WBBL Cup Final between Nottingham Wildcats and Manchester Mystics just 10 days away, we turn to former Great Britain and current Barking Abbey Crusaders head coach Mark Clark for his take on the big game at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham on Sunday 15 January. Barking were in action at the venue last January, when they competed on the same floor in the WBBL Trophy Final.

“There are no surprises with Nottingham and their roster has a good balance of returners and new talent. Ashley Harris and Siobhan Prior are still the back bone and they have the great feature of their own developed English players who went away to college and have returned.

“Manchester should not be a surprise, but have appeared to surprise some. Last year they were not far off being competitive ad they have retained many of those players and added real talent. Georgia Jones and Dom Allen are both GB players, while Rheanne Bailey and Jo Claydon are experienced and have many years of top league play.

“Manchester s big league win against Wildcats earlier in the season was built around Georgia Jones’ ability to run a game and make decisions. Unless Nottingham put Georgia under pressure and take away the options that Manchester want, then Manchester will get the looks they want.

“For Nottingham, Harris gets a lot of touches and is fundamental to the tempo of Nottingham offence. Manchester did a great job taking her and Nottingham away from what they wanted in the league game. That means Nottingham’s ability to get options from their sets will be a key contributing factor to the outcome of the game.

“Manchester also have another potential league MVP alongside Georgia in Amy Browne and her combination with Georgia has been key. Browne has carried Manchester’s offense for the last couple of seasons now and she is getting better looks,  taking great shots and has been a difference maker in her team’s march to the top of the league and now the Cup Final.

“They have only lost once this year and that was to us and Amy Browne didn’t play – that is how important she is to Manchester and she could ask serious questions of Nottinghams defence.

“I am expecting a close game and exactly how close depends on how much defence Nottingham play. If they put pressure on Jones for 40 mins, they could win it in the 4th. If they don’t Jones could lead Manchester to their first piece of WBBL silverware by a double digit margin. She makes her team function whether it be Allen, Browne, Bailey or former Wildcats player Nicky Welling – they all benefit from how Jones leads this Manchester team.”

You can follow Coach Clark @clarkabbey

The WBBL Cup Final is at midday on BBC Sport, BBC red button, BBC Sport App and Connected TV.