JOHN Kear is determined the Bulls avoid hitting a bum note against Oldham on Good Friday.

The veteran coach was very critical in his assessment of their latest win over Hunslet.

And he has made it clear in the individual player reviews at training that standards must improve for the Odsal visit of Scott Naylor’s Roughyeds.

Oldham are viewed as genuine promotion rivals and Kear, who accused some of his side of playing like “they had fallen in love with themselves” last weekend, insists there can be no repeat.

He said: “If we play like we did on Sunday, we’ll get our backsides slapped. Believe you me.

“I’ve watched several of Oldham’s games.

“They were outstanding against York, even though they lost by just two points.

“They played Halifax off the park in the cup game when I went along last week.”

Skipper Lee Smith is expected to return on Friday after being rested at the weekend.

“We’ve got four games in a relatively short space of time,” added Kear. “We hadn’t been able to get four games in two months prior to this!

“We decided to make sure we look after certain players and that was the idea behind Lee.”

Steve Crossley captained in his absence and Kear believes the big forward’s impressive form is having a positive influence on Castleford loanee Callum Bustin.

“I’m very happy with what Callum is producing. We’re slowly but surely getting more minutes out of him.

“He will benefit from playing alongside Steve Crossley, who’s a real warhorse. He’s got good habits and I’m sure Callum will pick them up off him.

“Steve doesn’t say much but it’s what he does – and what he does, he does very well. He leads from the front.”

Meanwhile, James Davies is expected to feature for Keighley against Hunslet on Friday after missing the first game of his loan from Bulls with a bicep injury.