Upbeat Brian Noble believes the Bulls can negotiate their horror Powergen Challenge Cup match-up - and Steve McNamara could yet stay at the club.

Having spent much of yesterday

counselling his assistant about Hull FC's advances, Noble's problems worsened last night when his side were drawn away at unbeaten Super League leaders St Helens in the Cup fifth round.

"It's probably the draw nobody wanted," he admitted.

"But it's the rugby equivalent of Chelsea v Man United and if we get a full deck of

players I'm confident we'll go there and compete.

"By that I mean we want to go there and win.

"It's the Challenge Cup for goodness sake - we all want that."

The mouth-watering tie - a repeat of the 2001 final at Twickenham won by Saints - is the highlight of the

fifth-round draw and is likely to be televised on Saturday, May 20.

But Noble has more pressing matters with the on-going drama surrounding McNamara.

His assistant is today expected to announce whether or not he will leave Bradford to take up the head coach role at home-town club Hull.

Noble is desperate to keep his lieutenant and spent two hours with McNamara

yesterday discussing the pros and cons of any switch.

"Hull want Steve as their head coach but there's a few hurdles to cross before he goes," he said.

"He's got a lot of options in his future and he needs to make the right choice.

"It's not a done deal by any means and he could easily stay."

Meanwhile, in-form Senior Academy centre Ryan Atkins, 20, has joined Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on a month's loan as he bids to get his first taste of Super League action.