WHEN the Basingstoke Bison step out onto the ice tomorrow (6.30pm) against the Edinburgh Capitals, they will, once again, be hoping to close the gap on their play-off rivals the London Racers, who are in Sheffield on the same evening.

On Sunday (6pm), the Bison travel to title-contenders Coventry Blaze, while London entertain the Dundee Stars.

Currently the Herd have played four more games than the Racers, who occupy the final play-off spot and are six points behind.

Most of those London games in hand will be wiped out in the coming week as, after two games at the weekend, the Racers travel to Edinburgh on Tuesday and then to Newcastle 24 hours later.

A week tonight they complete a hectic schedule of five games in seven days, when they entertain Coventry in London.

Tomorrow will see the Bison looking to complete a double over Edinburgh, having won north of the border earlier this season.

The odds will be in the Bison's favour, as the Scottish outfit have yet to beat any Elite League opposition.

However, they will not be taking the visitors lightly. Bison general manager and head coach Mark Bernard said: "There will be no complacency from my players - they cannot afford to be after last weekend.

"We are going to have a tough week of training to make sure we are ready for both games this weekend."

On Sunday, the Bison will come face to face with a former player, Jozef Lukac, released from the team at the beginning of the month, to enable Steve Gallace, ironically Coventry's top points scorer last season, to join the Herd from Newcastle.

Bernard said: "We have had some close games against Coventry except for our last visit but that was due to injuries during the game.

"We know it is going to be tough and they will be well coached by Paul Thompson, but we have to go into their building looking for points."