THE Bulls are scrutinising the extent of Steve Crossley’s shoulder injury in a race to get their pack warrior back for the play-off push.

The Odsal captain is set to sit out his third game in a row against Swinton on Sunday as his problem proves more troublesome than was first thought.

Head coach John Kear admitted: “It will be a silly risk to play him, looking at how sore he was on Tuesday lifting weights and twisting and turning.

“We need to get to the bottom of what the injury really is so we can get the correct treatment and assessment of how long he will be out.

“Initially I was thinking it would only be a week. But it’s looking to be a little worse than that.

“We need to get it sorted so we can really plan and prepare around Steve’s return as well as the other lads who come in and manfully fill in for him.

“We need our experienced players, especially with the games that are coming up.”

Centre Rhys Evans, who has been out since April, will make a welcome return for the reserves against Hull FC in a game that will act as a curtain-raiser for the Lions clash.

Ashley Gibson will also feature after illness.