Great Britain's impressive march towards the A Division of European basketball has hit an unwelcome obstacle with the potential loss of the former NBA forward Robert Archibald to back injury, a problem that could deny the 6ft10in Scot a rare and emotional appearance in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Chris Finch's team take on Albania, beaten in all six of their group games to date, looking to record a third consecutive victory since Archibald joined fellow big man Andy Betts and the Chicago Bulls' forward Luol Deng in a much-improved national team this summer.

However, Archibald's involvement in victories over Slovakia and Holland has been limited by an ankle injury he sustained in training camp and a frustrating summer continued in Almere against the Dutch on Wednesday when his evening ended after just nine minutes' work because of crippling back spasms.

That debilitating injury has left Archibald, 27, doubtful for a game in Edinburgh which would have marked his first in Scotland for a decade. "It is so frustrating for Robert after all he has been through," said Finch. "He is improving almost by the hour and is having treatment on his back so we will have to see how he is at game time. Robert is desperate to play and I am desperate for him to be able to play in front of his home crowd but, at the moment, we have to rate him 'day to day.'"

Having beaten Slovakia by 25 points and Holland by 19, Albania should provide little or no opposition for a British team that has become a credible European power, almost overnight. In that context, it is highly unlikely that Archibald's experience or physical play will be required.

But, aside from Finch's personal reasons for wishing to see Archibald in action on his "home" court, the GB coach would also like to see him spend more time assimilating his play with his new team-mates, especially with the all-important visit to fellow group leaders Belarus looming on Wednesday.

Archibald, who spent two seasons with four different teams in the NBA after graduating from the University of Illinois, has just signed a reported $1 million, one-year deal with Ukranian team Mariupol and would be excused for worrying about his "day job" given his current run of cursed luck with injuries.

But, having appeared in Britain for the first time since 1997 in last week's victory over the Slovaks in Birmingham, the incentive to play on the same Edinburgh court where he said farewell to Britain a decade ago is tempting.

Archibald said: "I just can't say anything about the injury. We can only wait and see how it responds, I have not had a problem with my back for about three years and, back then, it took me ten days to get over it.

"It's already been a frustrating time because I picked up an ankle strain at the end of training camp and now this. Obviously it would mean a lot to me to play back in Scotland, it's ten years since I did that. My last game in Britain before I left for the States was at Meadowbank when my junior team won a national final there and it would mean a lot to play back there."

To add to the sense of occasion, Archibald's father Bobby is a Scottish basketball legend and played for Great Britain in their 1984 Olympic qualification campaign. Archibald added: "My dad doesn't talk much about his career but I know from what other people have told me that he was highly respected in the game and I'm proud to be following in his footsteps."

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