ADRIAN Purtell believes whoever succeeds Jimmy Lowes as Bulls head coach will inherit a side capable of pushing hard for promotion.

Lowes officially departed the club after Sunday's thumping win over Workington and the search for his replacement is continuing.

Bradford have been inundated with applications and Glenn Morrison remains favourite for the job, although no timescale has been given for an appointment.

Purtell, made captain by Lowes ahead of the current campaign, paid tribute to his departing boss and is confident his successor will have plenty to work with.

The Aussie skipper said: "I've got nothing but praise for Jimmy. From the day he came in, he showed how much he cared for us as a playing group.

"It was always his goal to get us back to Super League and, disappointingly, we just fell at the final hurdle last year. But he was a great coach and probably an even better bloke.

"He has always put this club first and you can see in all his press conferences that he genuinely cared for the boys.

"We were all working towards a common goal of getting back into Super League and Jimmy was the driving force behind that. I would have liked him to have been there if we do get promoted but it just hasn't worked out that way.

"As professionals, we get paid to play rugby and that's what we've got to do, no matter who is the coach or what is going on off the field. I think the boys showed against Workington that they can keep their mind on the job, which is a good thing.

"Crucially, the good habits that Jimmy instilled in the boys, such as working hard for each other, remain. Then you've got the quality that wins you games, so it's a good position for any new coach to be in.

"I guess whoever takes over will be thinking they have a good opportunity to get us back into Super League – and I think this team is good enough to get us back there."

The Bulls ran in ten tries as they saw off Workington but Purtell believes the best is yet to come from his team ahead of Sunday's trip to promotion rivals London Broncos.

He said: "The biggest positive to take out of Sunday was the fact there is still plenty of improvement in us. We were going at half pace at some points in the game and still won comfortably. I think if we play to our best, then we're definitely going to be a dangerous team.

"We will be ready for a tough game down at London because they're up near the top and deservedly so. They are playing some good footie and we are going to have to be better again, even though we won comfortably against Workington.

"We've got to work on being able to flick that switch regardless of who or where we play. We've got to be professional and ruthless throughout games because when we are, not many teams can live with us. That's a good position to be in."

Adam Sidlow should make his comeback from a broken hand against London and fellow prop Ben Kavanagh is also closing in on a return.