THE season may still be young, but Basingstoke Bison head coach Doug Sheppard believes that his side's upcoming run of games are "crucial".

The Herd sit second in the English Premier League, but their next four games are all against sides challenging near the top of the table.

They host leaders Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday, before travelling to second-placed Peterborough Phantoms the following night.

Then, next weekend, the Bison host fourth-placed Guildford Flames on Friday, before travelling to Milton Keynes the next day.

Sheppard said: "If you look at the next four games, they are all against the other teams currently in the top four. It's a pretty crucial run of games, and it all starts on Saturday.

"We are looking for consistency and we need to keep this run rolling because it is a tough league and it is very tight at the top. We just need to keep winning games."

The good news for Sheppard is that having struggled with injuries during the early stages of the season, the Herd are almost back to full strength.

Defenceman Declan Balmer could return after injury this weekend, meaning that Grant Rounding is the only player missing from the line-up.

Sheppard added: "We have had our share of adversity already, picking up a few injuries, and have had to change things, because it is not possible to play as aggressive as normal when short-benched.

"When we are back to full strength, hopefully we can make ourselves really tough to beat."

The Bison go into this weekend in good form, having won both of their games last weekend and five of their last six in all.

However, Milton Keynes won five in a row before losing at Guildford on Sunday and Peterborough have won three of their last four.

Saturday's game will see the Bison and the Lightning face each other for the first time this season. The pair did meet in pre-season, sharing a series, with the home side winning on each occasion.

Sheppard said: "Milton Keynes have got a solid team and I am expecting a tough, physical game. It's on our ice, so we should have an advantage, but we know they will be coming in hungry and have made a really good start to the season.

Basingstoke have already travelled to Peterborough once, losing 5-3 early in the season, a result Sheppard is keen to avoid a repeat of.

"Every time you go there, it's a tough place to play at," he added. "We have already been beaten there once this season and do not want that to happen again.

"We made a few mistakes that night that I hope we can learn from."

Sheppard is playing a different role this season, taking a watching brief from the bench rather than shifts out on the ice, something that he is getting used to.

"I thought I would miss being on the ice a lot more than I have, but I'm sure that has more to do with the way results have been going than anything else," he said. "It was the right time for me to make the transition and the guys are working hard and getting results."