Bulls coach Francis Cummins is facing up to the grim prospect of being without Manase Manuokafoa for up to seven weeks.

Cummins was left bitterly disappointed by the manner of his side’s 25-16 defeat at London Broncos in the Tetley’s Challenge Cup last night, a game that Manuokafoa missed with a fractured thumb sustained against Leeds the previous week.

The Bulls boss could now enter the loan market in search of another front-rower.

Cummins said: “One hospital said Nas’ thumb was okay last Sunday and that there was no fracture.

“Then when we got to the specialist on the Wednesday we got told there was a fracture.

“That was disappointing but we’re hoping he will be back within six to seven weeks.”

Cummins saw Jarrod Sammut open the scoring last night but tries from former Bulls forward Matt Cook, Kieran Dixon and Scott Wheeldon put London 18-6 up at the break.

That came in a nightmare first half which saw the Bulls lose Brett Kearney to a groin injury and James Donaldson also withdrawn after a heavy challenge from Broncos prop Antonio Kaufusi which referee James Child placed on report.

Yet Cummins admitted his side were second-best as London dominated the physical battle up front, allowing veteran playmaker Luke Gower to exert a major influence on proceedings.

Cummins said: “Donno was very poorly for a long time – the players are saying it was nasty – and BK has a groin problem and he couldn’t run at all.

“Losing two players didn’t help but we didn’t get too much good ball during that first half, so that’s all credit to London. They did us.

“We had talked about patience and building but then we go and kick it on play three and that’s rubbish. I just thought we played naively again and disregarded possession.”

Cummins could barely hide his frustration afterwards as the Bulls’ cup dreams went up in smoke.

He could now swing the axe for Friday’s Super League trip to Salford, where the Bulls face a struggling City Reds side coached by former Bulls boss Brian Noble.

Cummins said: “We all have dreams, don’t we? You can handle it if you play well but we didn’t.

“We’re restricted by the numbers of the squad and there are some players in some really poor form.

“I just said to the players they showed character but character isn’t going to win you a load of games. You’ve got to have more quality.”

After an 18-6 interval deficit, the Bulls conceded a fourth try to the influential Michael Witt in the second half to ensure late tries from Nick Scruton and Elliot Kear were mere consolations.