ATHENS (EuroBasket 2009) – Russia will need as many weapons as possible if they are to claim a top-six finish at the EuroBasket in Poland and  qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Therefore, national team coach David Blatt will be relieved to know that star forward Viktor Khryapa will recover from a knee injury in time to play.

Khryapa, who nearly missed last year’s Olympics with an ankle injury, hurt his knee in Monday's 78-61 defeat to Lithuania in the Acropolis-Eurobank Tournament in Athens and didn't feature in Tuesday's game against Greece.

There were initial concerns that Khryapa may have suffered damage to his meniscus but a team doctor has said it is intact and that the player's ligaments are also okay.

Fluid was on Khryapa's knee due to the severity of the blow but after five days of therapy, he will be able to return to training.

He will then need a further week to be in top form but is expected to be as good as new for the EuroBasket barring any unforeseen complications.

Meanwhile, Blatt has swung the ax and reduced his roster to 13 players.

Peter Gubanov and Yuriy Vasiliev have been told they are surplus to requirements.

Russia squad: Andrey Vorontsevich, Nikita Kurbanov, Sergey Bykov, Vitaly Fridzon, Dmitry Sokolov, Viktor Khryapa, Yegor Vyaltchev, Sergey Monya, Anton Ponkrashov, Kelly McCarty, Alexey Shved, Alexander Kaun and Timofey Mozgov.

FIBA