Super League match preview: Hull FC v Bradford Bulls
Hull FC will be hoping to bounce back from their defeat to Leeds Rhinos on Friday against the Bradford Bulls.
Last Updated: 08/02/13 11:06pm
The match was originally due to be played on Friday, but an accident on the M62 which forced the motorway to close meant a number of Hull FC players were stuck while Bradford's coach was late arriving to the ground.
There are high hopes for the Black and Whites this season and while Peter Gentle's men ran the champions close for 55 minutes last week, they ultimately slipped to a 36-6 loss.
In contrast, the Bulls kicked off the new campaign with an emphatic 40-6 triumph over the Wakefield Wildcats in Francis Cummins' first game in charge at Odsal.
Gentle has made one change to his 19-man squad, skipper Gareth Ellis, who injured his foot in the warm-up against Leeds, missing out and young centre Ben Crooks added.
The East Yorkshire club are still without injured duo Liam Watts and Danny Tickle, although the latter is nearing a return to action following a bicep injury.
Bulls boss Cummins has named an unchanged squad with former Leeds Rhino Nick Scruton expected to be passed fit after sustaining a poke in the eye against the Wildcats.
Bradford remain without scrum-half Luke Gale after he suffered a setback in his recovery from ankle surgery during the close season.
The match sees Bradford's goal-kicking winger Jamie Foster go head-to-head with the club he joined on loan last season after dropping out of the first-team picture at St Helens.
"I've talked a lot to the players about backlashes and how Hull were perhaps a little embarrassed last week and that they will want to show what they can do in front of their own fans, so this is a big challenge for us," said Cummins.
"Obviously they have lost Gaz Ellis and that's a blow but they have a very talented squad. They have invested over a number of years to get to this position and I don't think they will be far away in any competition."
Hull: Arundel, Briscoe, Crookes, Crooks, Galea, Green, Heremaia, Holdsworth, Horne, Houghton, Johnson, Lynch, McDonnell, O'Meley, Pitts, Seymour, Westerman, Whiting, Yeaman.
Bradford: Sidlow, Donaldson, Platt, Manuokafoa, Langley, Diskin, Kearney, Scruton, L'Estrange, Blythe, K. Lulia, Whitehead, Kear, Sammut, Addy, Olbison, C. Walker, Murphy, Foster.
