Cooks served an eight-year apprenticeship as a Hawks assistant coach before taking the reins when Joyce was sacked almost two years ago.

He is expecting Joyce, who coached the Hawks for 12 years, to have the Gold Coast Blaze ready to spill blood in tomorrow night's confrontation at WIN Entertainment Centre.

"They haven't won a game so they'll be desperate," Cooks said.

"Brendan said he's still eyeing the play-offs, and so he should, but they have to start winning this weekend and that means they'll come in with fire in their eyes."

Sharing seventh spot with Sydney, the Hawks (3-4) have enjoyed a relatively smooth build-up after last Friday's home win over Adelaide.

Starting guard Mat Campbell has been nursing a calf injury for the past week, but is expected to play.

On Sunday they have a date on the road with the Sydney Spirit, but Cooks said his side was concentrating solely on beating the Blaze (0-7).

"Gold Coast are definitely playing good basketball and, judging by a couple of tapes I saw of their games, they've been unlucky not to get a win," he said.

"It's an important game. We know they're going to come here desperate for that first win because they don't want to get left behind, but it's the same for us. We need a win to stay in touch.

"We're playing pretty well at home, but you can't ever let yourself get too comfortable and over-confident."

The Blaze have welcomed veteran forward Scott McGregor back from a brief injury lay-off, but a cloud hangs over the fitness of import Juaquin Hawkins.