THE Basingstoke Bison have the biggest week of their season so far coming up.

They face a double header encounter with arch local rivals the Bracknell Bees over this weekend, followed by the second leg of their South Cup final at the Peterborough Phantoms on Wednesday night.

The Bees buzz into town on Saturday (6.30pm) for a game sponsored by the Gazette, with the return away on Sunday (6pm).

Victory for the Herd will guarantee them a top three finish in the league and keep the pressure up on second placed Peterborough.

The Herd are hoping to have leading goal scorer Richard Bordowski back in their line-up, but Chris Cooke is still away at the World Universtiade as is Bracknell’s Ivan Antonov, while three more former Bison players Joe Baird, Ryan Watt and Brendan Baird are all suspended.

Bison player/coach Ashley Tait said: “This is a really big week for us and it would be nice to clinch a top three spot over the weekend and then we will focus on the cup final.

“We are a goal down from the first leg, but we have won in Peterborough this season and will have to do it again.”