THE BASINGSTOKE Bison have the burning desire to take some points from two of the pre-season title favourites for the English Premier League crown this weekend.

On Saturday night, rivals Guildford Flames are in town for a game which has a 6.30pm face-off, while on Sunday the Herd make the trip to Altrincham to face Manchester Phoenix.

Saturday’s game will also see the annual Teddy Bear Toss, in aid of Naomi House.

This is where fans bring along a cuddly toy of any shape or form to the game and throw them on the ice when Basingstoke score their first goal of the night. The only thing the club ask is that they are placed in a sealed plastic bag for hygiene reasons and that they have a CE safety label on them.

They will then be collected and passed onto Naomi House.

That will only add even more excitement to this derby which has been decided by a single in the teams’ last three meetings.

A the bumper crowd is expected for Saturday’s clash, as it should once again be a real nail bitter.

Last weekend, the Flames ended a run of three straight defeats with a 9-2 victory over Swindon. So the Bison defence could be in for a busy night, but of course they were boosted last weekend by the return of Tony Redmond, which gave them five defencemen.

However, as one player returns from injury, another - forward Chris Wiggins - was forced out with a shoulder injury, having played through the pain barrier the previous two weeks.

On Sunday fellow forward Scott Spearing returned to the line-up as the team was down to eight forwards, but his knee injury forced him out. After a scan early in the week, the news did not look good for Spearing’s possible return date.

Talking ahead of the Guildford game, team coach Steve Moria said: “We have had a lot of low-scoring battles with them this season and I think this weekend will be the same. We need to keep picking up points to stay in touch with the leaders.”

On Sunday, the Bison will be looking for their first win of the season over the Phoenix.

The current league leaders suffered the shock result of the season so far last Saturday, when they crashed 8-3 at basement side Romford.

They returned to winning ways the following night in a top-of-the-table clash with Milton Keynes and Moria knows this will be a tough encounter.

The Bison boss said: “They have had our number so far this season, but like every game we will go out there looking to win.”