CAPTAIN Mike Ellis, Matt Cote and Neil Liddiard all return this weekend as the Basingstoke Bison look to return to winning ways.

Tomorrow (6.30pm), the Wella-backed side take on the visiting Edinburgh Capitals and on Sunday the Bison travel for their first-ever meeting with league leaders Dundee Stars.

Ellis returns after having surgery on a middle finger, while Cote and Liddiard have recovered from knee injuries suffered in the Coventry defeat on Saturday.

New netminder Robert Schistad will have a full week of training under his belt after his baptism of fire against Coventry and Guildford last weekend.

The 35-year-old last season played for Wilhelmshaven-Stickhausen in the German second division and returned a 2.9 goals against average.

Two seasons earlier, for Schweninger Wild Wings in the top flight of the German league, in 44 games he conceded just 66 goals.

The Norwegian-Canadian also had a season in the Czech Republic for Sparta Prague and played for the Norwegian national side from 1992-2000.

Coach Charlie Colon said: "He has got the pedigree and once match fit will be a great addition to the team."

On the opening weekend of the season the Bison beat Edinburgh 5-2 but, on Sunday, the Capitals produced one of the biggest shock results of the season as they beat Fife Flyers 5-1.

Since the Wella-backed side last played them, the Caps have added another import to their line-up in Canadian defenceman Gerad Adams.

He links up with Roland Carlsson and Mikko Koivunoro to complete a trio of imports who are Newcastle-bound, once problems with the Superleague team are resolved.

Colon said: "They may have added to their line-up since we last played them but, once again, we will be looking to take both points."

Sunday's game will be much tougher, playing in a new rink and against a new team coached by the top British player in the modern game, Tony Hand.

The Stars suffered a setback in midweek with the loss of import forward Nate Leslie to London Knights, so they will have a race against time to fill the spare import slot.

Colon said: "We will go up there and look to play a tight defensive game."