BASINGSTOKE Bison defenceman Zach Sullivan will be in action tonight as Great Britain under-20s play the first of their two warm-up games ahead of the World Championships in Dumfries, which starts on Monday.

The young lions take on a Scottish Elect Select side this evening, before facing the Solway Sharks two days later.

GB will open their Division One B campaign on Monday against Italy, followed 24 hours later by a game against Kazakhstan.

After a rest day, the team will be back in action on December 12, when they face France. Then, a week on Saturday, they are up against Ukraine, with their final match against Japan the following evening.

The 19-year-old Herd defenceman is looking forward to the tournament and pulling on a GB jersey again.

Sullivan said: “It is always an honour to play for your country and to play on home soil is a real bonus.”

Great Britain will start as underdogs in the tournament as they collected just one win last year in Ukraine, and this group is even stronger, with relegated France and promoted Japan.

Sullivan said: “It is going to be tough, but we will give it our best shot and hopefully playing on home ice will be an advantage.

“I am expecting the teams we play against to be a higher standard than the English Premier League, so it is going to be a challenge.”

A number of the Great Britain team have flown across the Atlantic to take part in the tournament, including Liam Stewart, whose father is pop icon Rod Stewart.

There are also a trio of Elite League stars in the side. They are former Bison Matt Selby and Ross Venus, who both play for Coventry, and Hull’s Bobby Chamberlain.