JAMES Clare is remaining hopeful that he will play again this year after an injury which wrecked his proud ever-present record.

The prolific Bulls winger had featured in every game this season until he sustained ankle ligament damage against Oldham which forced him to undergo surgery.

He subsequently missed the crucial final-day trip to Featherstone and watched on in frustration from the stands as Rohan Smith's men were soundly beaten 20-0.

The standard recovery time from syndesmosis is between eight and 16 weeks but Clare is confident he is ahead of schedule and could return to play in the Championship Shield semi-final or final.

The former Castleford star, who scored 18 tries this season, said: "Featherstone was the first game I had missed all year and I wanted to maintain that record of starting every match and getting the club where they needed to be.

"It was tough not being able to play and obviously the result made it even more difficult to take.

"After the surgery, they said it would take between eight and 16 weeks to heal.

"I'm absolutely flying now and feel great – but you can get stress fractures because the incisions haven't healed yet.

"Some people heal faster than others but things seem to be moving really quickly and I'm ahead of schedule.

"I'm still hopeful of getting a couple of games in before the end of the year – possibly the semi-final and the final – so I can then build for next season.

"I think there are going to be some big changes next year and a lot of comings and goings.

"Rohan is going to start implementing his ideas and hopefully everyone will get on board with that."

Smith's men continue their quest for silverware at Dewsbury today and young winger Josh Rickett was named in the 19-man Bulls squad, although he is unlikely to be handed his senior debut.

"There is plenty of good stuff happening at the moment," said Bradford head coach Smith.

"It is still a time of transition where people are moving and we're dealing with quite a few injuries.

"But there are also a lot of positives with guys joining the group and also younger players getting experience.

"There is a good buzz around the team and while the footie is on and the sun is shining, everyone is happy.

"We can expect a real tough hard game today. Dewsbury have had great success against us this year, so we're expecting them to be very confident and willing to spoil the party."

Dewsbury are missing several players through injury and suspension, while on-loan Bulls duo Etu Uaisele and Lucas Walshaw are not eligible to play.

Yet Rams boss Glenn Morrison said: "We have beaten the Bulls twice this year. We have knocked them out of the Challenge Cup and beat them at their place.

"We needed to beat Halifax last week and hopefully that will give us a bit of momentum going into the Bradford game.

"But it will be tough and we are going to have to bring in a few bodies that haven't played for a while to try and make up for the ones that will be missing."