BASINGSTOKE Bison head coach Doug Sheppard has been left furious, after the English Premier League decided not to issue a suspension for a hit to the head on one of his players, during their home encounter with the Hull Pirates on Saturday night.

An incident at the start of the final period left Bison defenceman Dan Scott needing hospital treatment for concussion. This was after he was hit in the head by an elbow from Hull import Ugnius Cizas.

Just last month, the EPL introduced supplementary discipline, where clubs could send in video evidence for hits they felt were dangerous, especially to the head.

The Bison did this after the weekend's game against Hull, this was reviewed by three officials and much to Sheppard's frustration and disbelief they decided the incident did not warrant any punishment.

The decision was reached because they ruled Cizas was skating down his forward lane and did not deliberately elbow the Bison player.

This has left Sheppard furious and he said: "I can understand how this was missed in game time, but we have numerous camera angles in Basingstoke and it clearly shows a hit to the head in my view.

"Dan had come across to close him down and the last thing he expects is an elbow in the face."

"I understood at the league meeting they were meant to be clamping down on head shots. Everyone else is clamping down on this across the world. "Where is the protection for the players if this is not the case?"

The Herd minus injured defenceman Scott are back in action on Saturday night (6.30pm), when they face a visit from the high flying Milton Keynes Lightning.

So far this season every game in this series has been won by the home side and Sheppard is keen for his side to continue their good form in Basingstoke ahead of the end of season play-offs.

Sheppard said: "We want to establish that our own barn is a tough place to come and play for anyone in the play-offs. I will be looking for us to win all our remaining home games in the regular season."