THE BASINGSTOKE Bison proudly sit on top of the English Premier League table after the first two weeks of the season –and they will hope to extend their reign this weekend.

Trying to knock them off the summit will be the visiting Hull Pirates, on Saturday (6.30pm), before the Herd face arch local rivals the Bracknell Bees at the Hive on Sunday (6pm).

Hull are the new boys in the EPL, having been born after the Hull Stingrays folded in the Elite League over the summer.

The Pirates are the only side not to have recorded a win this season and this week they axed import defenceman Jan Platil.

Head coach Dominic Osman is set to switch to defence and the club are now looking to sign a new import forward ahead of their game against the Bison.

Hull are a team full of young local talent, with their two experienced Brits being former Bison players Warren Tait and James Hutchinson, who will be looking forward to returning to their old stomping ground.

Despite Hull’s poor start, Bison head coach Doug Sheppard is not going to take them for granted.

He said: “They will be desperate to win and have a young team who are going work really hard.

“I felt we played our best game of the season at Telford last Sunday, so I want us to make sure we carry on from there.”

Herd captain Aaron Connolly and defenceman Declan Balmer will both miss this weekend due to injury.

Alan Lack will play both games this weekend after he missed the trip to Telford.

However, defenceman Daniel Lackey and forwards Ryan Sutton and Jacob Ranson will only be available on Saturday as they return to their parent clubs for Sunday’s fixtures.

So it will be a short-staffed Bison who take to the ice at the Bracknell Bees on Sunday, but it was exactly the same story at Telford last weekend.

The Bees are doing a lot better than last season due to the addition of top EPL forwards Frankie Bakrlik and Milan Kostourek, who have added a lot more firepower to the forward line.

The game will also see some sibling rivalry as Bison’s summer signing Shaun Thompson comes up against younger brother Carl.

Even last season, when the Bees rarely buzzed, the Bison lost at the Hive, a result that ended up costing them a place in the cup semi-finals.

The Herd will hope that history does not repeat itself on Sunday but, like the Herd, the Bees have won their opening two home games, against Sheffield and Hull.

Sheppard said: “They are a much-improved side from last year and we will be going into the hottest rink in the league, so we will have to make sure we only take short shifts.

“We will be short staffed, but we proved in Telford that we can still get results and I sure everyone will step up and play their part.”