The Belfast Giants will play a competitive game at the Dundonald Ice Bowl for the first time in the coming weeks.

And it won’t be a one-off, with two hugely important matches being scheduled for the Castlereagh rink.

The first of those, the semi-final of the British Knockout Cup, will take place next Tuesday night as the Giants look to see off Coventry Blaze and make the final of the competition for the first time in their history.

The second of those two fixtures will see the Giants take on Coventry Blaze again — this time in the Challenge Cup semi-final on February 4.

With the Odyssey Arena unavailable due to the hosting of other events and the club’s reluctance to take midweek games to Dundalk — where four league matches were played last season — they have plumped for Dundonald.

And with the venue expected to be a sell-out there is likely to be a great atmosphere to welcome a first fixture under the Elite League umbrella.

“With no ice available at the Odyssey Arena, we decided to schedule two games at Dundonald Ice Bowl because they are both midweek and we believe this is the more convenient choice of the options available to us and for our fans,” said general manager Todd Kelman.