Oxford City Stars will look to consolidate their place at the top of Division 1 South when they travel to Alexendra Palace to take on Haringey Greyhounds on Sunday.

Stars beat Haringey 4-1 in their season-opener at Oxford at the start of last month.

But although they defeated Peterborough Islanders 5-2 last Sunday to stay on top, the disappointing defeat against Cardiff Devils 24 hours earlier means victory is crucial to maintain their early-season momentum.

They will have to make do without Richard Hargreaves, who made an impressive debut against Peterborough.

Hargreaves has work commitments, while Andy Cox faces a late fitness test.

With Nick Oliver sidelined with an eye injury, coach Darryl Morvan knows it is going to be tough.

He said: "Last Saturday proved we need to be on top of our game against every opponent this year.

"We played poorly, and some of that may be due to the team underestimating Cardiff as they were missing a couple of their regular players.

"Even with the win against Haringey at the start of the season, we cannot afford to make the same mistake with them, and the players are well aware of this.

"Sam Broughton will once again be taking Nick's slot, which he did so capably last weekend, maintaining the strength on Nick's line.

"With Will Skaife returning from injury, it gives us the flexibility to move Richard Wojciak up to cover for Richard being unavailable.

"The team know they are now viewed as a scalp to be taken, and training this week has been high intensity, and reflected the resolve of the players not to allow another upset."