THE BASINGSTOKE Bison will be looking to bounce back to winning ways in the English Premier League after suffering a rare home league defeat last Sunday night.

For only the third time in the EPL this season the Herd were beaten at the Basingstoke Arena – 3-1 to the Milton Keynes Lightning.

They face another stiff test this Saturday when the Sheffield Steeldogs come barking into town.

The Yorkshire side are currently enjoying a three game winning streak against the Herd which now sees them lead the series 3-2.

In fact the Steeldogs won on their last visit to Hampshire which was on Boxing Day, thanks to a 3-2 success, and since then have enjoyed two one-goal wins in Ice Sheffield.

The last one was earlier this month 5-4 when Doug Sheppard, Joe Miller, Nicky Watt and Joe Rand all scored.

There is no reason to think it will not be another close game and it is bound to be a battle against the most physical side in the league.

Sheffield are fighting hard to get into the end of season play-offs, while Bison will be looking to keep the pressure up on leaders Guildford Flames.

As they were last weekend, the Herd will still be minus Joe Greener and Matt Selby. Bison boss Sheppard said: “The MK game was frustrating as we had a key player tossed out for the second straight game.

“From the bench it looked like a good clean hit but unfortunately we had to kill off a five minute penalty and lost Randy (Joe Rand) for the rest of the game.”

Looking ahead to the clash against Sheffield, Sheppard said: “We have to get back to winning ways this Saturday against Sheffield. No excuses, two points is a must.”