BASINGSTOKE Bison captain Shawn Maltby is facing a race against time to be fit in time for his side's home clash against Elite League leaders Cardiff Devils on Boxing Day.

The Canadian forward is still suffering with a hand injury he picked up in the Bison's victory in Hull and missed both games against the London Racers last weekend.

Definitely back in the line-up to face the Welsh outfit will be Canadian defenceman Owen Walter and British forward Shaun Thompson, back from international duty with Great Britain under-20.

Bison general manager and head coach Mark Bernard said: "It is very frustrating for both me and the players at the moment as we continue to suffer injuries.

"The guys have had a few days away and we will get back and start looking to have a good second half of the season. The work rate is there, we just need to get the results we deserve."

Back in 1994, the Bison and Devils made sure the Boxing Day clash lived up to its name, as there a mass brawl on the final buzzer.

This saw referee Dave Cloutman dish out 158 minutes in penalties, having only called 14 minutes in the previous 60 minutes in the 8-7 victory for Basingstoke.

This clash has the early face-off time of 4pm.

Elsewhere, British player Brian Worrall started a month's trial with the Bison with two games last weekend against London.

He is seen as a direct replacement for Lewis Buckman, who has now returned to Peterborough.

Manchester-born forward Worrall played for his home town team the Phoenix in the Elite League last season.

This year he was second in the scoring stats for the Blackburn Hawks in the English Premier League with 23 points (10+13) from 17 games.

Before joining Manchester he played for the Altrincham Aces in the 2002/2003 season and scored the opening goal in Basingstoke against the

Buffalo in the play-off final, which the Aces eventually lost in overtime. That season he scored 24 times in 32 games.

After the Cardiff game on Boxing Day, the Bison travel to London on Wednesday (8pm). This will be the final game for Racers' netminder Sylvain Daigle, who has quit the capital club.

It is just a shame he did not do it a few weeks ago, as he was the sole reason the Bison ended up with just one point to show for their double header with London last weekend.