LEE Gaskell is braced for a formidable challenge at Featherstone on Sunday but he believes the match is a golden opportunity for the Bulls to showcase their promotion pedigree.

Featherstone have won two out of two so far this season and have signed players such as former Warrington duo Garreth Carvell and Paul Wood and ex-Bradford man Paul Sykes.

Carvell has yet to feature for Andy Hay’s side as he works his way towards match fitness and may not play this weekend but Gaskell is wary of the task ahead at the Big Fellas Stadium.

The in-form stand-off, who scored a well-taken hat-trick against Whitehaven two days ago, said: “I’ve never played at Featherstone before but a few of the boys have told me about their pitch.

“They’re a good side and I’ve worked with Andy Hay at Salford. He’s a good coach who knows what he’s doing and I know they will be revved up when they play us.

“Featherstone have got some players who can cause us problems.

“They’ve got two of the best props in Super League who have come down to the Championship with Featherstone.

“Paul Sykes is playing behind them and has been there and done it with teams like Bradford and Wakefield.

“It’ll be a tough day at the office but we know if we play well then we can beat anyone on our day.”

Gaskell has looked in excellent shape in the Bulls’ opening two matches of the campaign and attributes his fitness and form to an arduous pre-season.

The 24-year-old added: “We’ve had a tough pre-season. You know what Jimmy is like, he’s made sure we’re all switched on.

“I think getting a full pre-season has benefited me and hopefully I can just kick on now.

“Whitehaven gave us a tough game, as we knew they would, so it was just good to get the victory.

“I haven’t set myself any targets in terms of how many tries I’d like to score.

“As long as the team is playing well and winning, the tries don’t really matter to me.

“It’s all about the team because our main goal is to get back into Super League and I’ll do whatever I can to help us achieve that.”

Gaskell accepts the Bulls must improve significantly from their first-half display against the Cumbrians.

“The first half was a bit scrappy and I don’t think the conditions helped,” he said.

“We just need to keep on getting wins under our belt and working towards the play-offs now.

“Everyone was disappointed to lose to Leigh in the opening game, although we could take positives from the first half, so we’ve just got to keep building.

“There are a lot of new faces and it’s going to take a few games to gel and bond with each other.

“But the signs are positive and hopefully we can achieve our goal of going unbeaten at home this season.

“I think we’re more than capable of doing that. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully get this club back up there.”