Head coach Doug Sheppard is not anticipating a repeat of the unsavoury scenes of two weeks ago when Bracknell Bees visit Peterborough Phantoms for a NIHL South 1 fixture tonight (Wednesday).

Three of his four players remain suspended after incidents with opponents and a spectator at the end of their South Cup semi-final second leg defeat at The Hive.

Sheppard was forced to accept a two-match ban on behalf of his team, but he will be back on the bench tonight, as will forward Ben Paynter, having completed his two-game suspension.

But Ryan Watt, who won't play again this season, and Joe and Brendan Baird who were each given four matches, remain banned.

"Obviously tempers were pretty high after being eliminated from the cup, but that is now all behind us and I can't see much going on (tonight)," Sheppard told the News.

"Peterborough have got the cup final and play-offs just around the corner, so I don't think there will be many antics going on out there."

Watt has revealed why some of his teammates became so incensed at the end of the semi-final which they lost 3-2 to go out 9-5 on aggregate to Peterborough.

And he said he won't be appealing against his ban which added up to 21 games, six of them for fighting, 10 for 'engaging' with a spectator and five under the penalty-points totting up system.

Watt, who said he cannot afford to pay the non-refundable fee to challenge his ban, accepts he "may have"overstepped the mark" with his on-ice actions.

However, the Scottish forward added: "When a player on the visiting team mocks and laughs in your club captain's face and points at the scoreboard in the last two seconds of a cup semi-final there is absolutely no chance in hell that the sheer disrespect shown towards him and our team would be treated lightly.

"I had no intentions of fighting with James Ferrera, I wanted to get to James White, who started the whole incident with his cheap and unprofessional conduct.

"When I confronted White at the edge of the scrum and threw a punch, Ferrara had grabbed on to me to either stop me getting to White or to fight me himself. In my book, if you come off the bench during an altercation and grab a player you need to be prepared to get punched in the face, this is ice hockey it’s played with high intensity and high emotion. If you don’t want to be involved, stay on the bench."

In his lengthy statement, Watt goes on to give his view of the incident with the fan when he was leaving the ice on the way to the dressing room.

"A Phantoms fan came into a player and official only zone. I saw him approaching me and turned towards him. There is no way I was turning my back on a man who was approaching me gesturing and verbally abusing me, for all I know he could have suckered me or used a weapon as there is no search entering the rink.

"When I turned towards him, we shared a few heated words and he then physically assaulted me by pushing me in the face. I put my hand up to protect myself and I had a split decision to make ... I either do some serious physical damage or defend myself. I put my hand up and pulled his glasses off in self-defence and then carried on my way to the dressing room.

"Bearing in mind he approached me and instigated the incident, does anyone really think I deserve 10 games for engaging a fan?

"How many games would I have got if the Peterborough fan stayed sitting down in his seat in the stands? I can tell you - 0.

"I think there is a serious case of injustice here. I am not allowed to put my defence forward. I get 10 games for self-defence, yet the fan dodges an assault charge."

Bees' assistant captain continued: "I want to clear my name when it comes to this “altercation” with the fan. If that incident had happened in the street with a normal guy, as a citizen I have every right to defend myself, so that is what I did. Quite frankly after 15 years of playing professional hockey, I find it insulting that I would ever be accused of assaulting a fan.

"I am now being punished for something that I did not do, while this individual gets off Scot free."

In addition to Watt, the Baird brothers will also miss this coming weekend's double league date with one of their former clubs, Basingstoke Bison, the teams meeting at the Hampshire rink on Saturday (6.30pm face-off) and at The Hive on Sunday (6pm).

Sheppard, who will be up against the club he left last year, commented: "These are going to be two tough games and will be good ones as we gear up towards the play-offs.

"We have a nice stretch to the end of the season that will get us ready for the play-offs. We want to be playing good going into them."