Basingstoke Bison will bid to extend their unbeaten home record when they face title challengers Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday.

The EPL leaders made it 13 wins in a row last weekend with a 7-0 victory against Telford Tigers.

Peterborough have won the two previous games between the two teams, with the last encounter being decided on a penalty shoot-out after Phantoms tied the game at 59:59.

Basingstoke Head Coach Doug Sheppard said: “Last weekend was our best of the season so far and I want us to continue this on Saturday.

“We have a winning run at home and want to keep this going. Having just one game it is important to make sure we get maximum points.”

Hull Pirates face two difficult looking games this weekend, hosting Guildford Flames on Saturday before travelling to Peterborough the following day.

The Humberside outfit have won two of their last three home games and Player/Coach Dominic Osman (above) is relishing facing two of the league’s leading teams.

“If you look at the schedule it will be the top teams and that’s what we want at this time,” said Osman. “We are improving, but these games will show where we are now from where we were.

“The scorelines are something we look at, obviously, but they are not the be-all and end-all. We have played some really, really good hockey.”

Telford Tigers skipper Jason Silverthorn is expecting to face a very different MK Lightning side on Saturday, when the two teams go head-to-head in Milton Keynes.

MK Head Coach Peter Russell has brought in Frantisek Bakrlik and NHL draft pick Martti Jarventie in recent weeks to boost their EPL title hopes.

Telford suffered heavy defeats last weekend against Basingstoke and Guildford and Silverthorn has targeted a return to winning ways at MK.

He said: “We’ve had a really solid week in training and the guys have put in a good response to what happened. That should give us an excellent chance of doing well this weekend.

“Milton Keynes have made some changes since the last time we played, and of course every game is different. We saw that last week, when lost to Guildford after beating them a few weeks before.

“It is more a case of getting ready to play the way we need to, knowing the process and executing that. It’s a massive game for us, as we need the two points to stop ourselves from slipping further behind.

“The other teams around us are playing twice, so even though we’ll have another game in hand, they don’t add up until the end of the season. That makes it even more important for us to come out and have a good result.”

WEEKEND FIXTURES

Saturday

Hull Pirates v Guildford Flames
Swindon Wildcats v Bracknell Bees
Basingstoke Bison v Peterborough Phantoms
MK Lightning v Telford Tigers

Sunday

Peterborough Phantoms v Hull Pirates
Manchester Phoenix v Bracknell Bees

(Image permission: Arthur Foster)