THE Basingstoke Bison have announced four pre-season games, ahead of the start of their defence of the English Premier League title.

The Herd will lock horns with the Swindon Wildcats and Guildford Flames.

First up is a trip to the Link Centre to play the Wildcats on Wednesday August 31 (7.45pm), with the return in Basingstoke on Wednesday September 7 (7.30pm).

In between these two games the Bison have their annual challenge series with Guildford on Saturday September 3 (6.30pm) with the return in Surrey a day later with a 6pm face-off.