JOHN Kear will send out the big guns against Underbank as a sign of respect for the Challenge Cup.

The Bulls coach has resisted the temptation to use tomorrow’s fourth-round clash with the minnows as an opportunity to shuffle personnel.

Kear is mindful of the great history of his favourite competition – as well as the chance to bed in the team with another early-season run-out together.

He said: “We’re looking at a very similar side.

“I’ve been in the game a long time and I would never disrespect the opposition.

“You must also respect the competition as well. The Challenge Cup has got great tradition in rugby league, it’s been going since the 19th century.

“We need to respect it and by doing that it means you turn out your best possible team, which we'll do.

“I’m a Yorkshireman as well and if I was paying to see my club in the Challenge Cup, I’d expect to see a representative team out there.”

George Flanagan will make his long-awaited return from the eight-match ban he was handed in August.

But otherwise Kear is happy to stick with the same names who have run London and Featherstone very close in the opening two rounds of the Championship.

He added: “You can see the team beginning to gel more.

“There were some good combinations last weekend and the more they play together, the more they’ll develop those relationships.”

The Bulls made the headlines last season when they shocked Leeds Rhinos at Odsal. Kear is confident they won’t be on the wrong end of a cup upset when Underbank visit the Tetley’s Stadium.

“It’s a cup game and if you don’t win it, you’re out. We know full well we’ve to be hungry and committed and we have to be respectful.

“We allude to the Leeds game last year. But you have to remember that two or three games prior to that in the cup, we went to Keighley and were fortunate to come away with a two-point win.

“I’m pretty confident that this group of players will respect the opposition and prepare themselves as they should do.

“We’ve looked at the video from Underbank’s win over West Wales and we do know about one or two of their players who also feature in the student game.

“We do feel we’ll be well-versed in what threats they pose.

“We’ve got to make sure we do look at them and go through the same processes as we expect the players to do. It’s part of our job.

“Rugby league is about processes, it’s about sets of six, ending your sets, it’s about defending well and it’s exactly the same processes you go through in your preparation. We feel we’ve done that.”

Holmfirth-based Underbank are one of four amateur sides still in having reached this stage for the first time in the club’s history.

Kear said: “It’s a great tie. Yes, we’ve got to be on our guard against one of the top amateur teams but we’re also realistic.

“We’ve drawn the lowest-ranked team in the comp at the minute. We’re fortunate in that as well as being at home.

“But we’ve got to take advantage of that bit of fortune and that’s what we intend to do.

“Anybody who went last week would have got full value for money. We’d have preferred the result to have been different by a few points but we're certainly playing well."