MARK Dunning says he saw hurt in his players’ eyes at training on Tuesday, as he backed his side to prove they are a different outfit to last year.

Bulls had made a bright start to the Betfred Championship season, barring a soft 32-16 defeat at York, but were dreadful last Sunday, as rivals Keighley thrashed them 34-6.

Under Dunning, Bradford suffered five successive defeats last July, then four straight losses to end the season.

But he insisted: “This is a different group, in a different situation to last year.

“These players here now care passionately and I take confidence from the fact that, though we were poor last weekend, we never threw the towel in.

“We competed in the second half, if a bit aimlessly at times, and never capitulated.

“I’m also confident having looked into the eyes of my players on Tuesday.

“Seeing how hurt and upset they were after Keighley shows me they care.

“The reaction after losing to York was positive too, and I expect the same after Keighley too.”

Delivering one final post-mortem on the Keighley defeat before moving on to Bulls’ Challenge Cup fourth round game at Odsal against League 1 outfit Midlands Hurricanes this Sunday, Dunning reflected: “I don’t think it was a tactical or an attitude issue.

“I thought we compounded our problems by making errors and we invited a good team to play on us, with the plethora of individual talent they have.

“I’d say it was the best Keighley have played all season, whereas it was our equal-worst performance.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: There was a mixture of dejection and anger here among the Bulls players after conceding yet another try at Cougar Park.There was a mixture of dejection and anger here among the Bulls players after conceding yet another try at Cougar Park. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

As for the team this weekend, Dunning said: “The only positive from Keighley is that Kieran Gill’s hamstring injury isn’t as bad as we first feared.

“He’s likely to only be out for weeks, rather than months.

“Bodene (Thompson) is available, but given he’s had a reduced training load due to his concussions, this game might be a week too soon for him.

“Instead, it might be a good opportunity for him to get minutes out on the training field.

“He’ll definitely be available for Halifax though.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Boden Thompson should make his return for Bulls at Halifax on Easter Monday.Boden Thompson should make his return for Bulls at Halifax on Easter Monday. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Super League sides not wanting to risk their players being cup-tied will also lead to changes from the last squad.

Dunning said: “There’ll be no returns from injury (assuming Thompson isn’t selected), but there’ll be some squad rotation.

“We won’t have any lads from Leeds on dual-registration, while George Roby has gone back to Huddersfield for the week as they don’t want him to be cup-tied.

“The only player we’ll have who isn’t ours is Fenton Rogers, as he’s already played for us in the cup against York Acorn, and Huddersfield were happy for that to happen.”

Dunning will want to make the most of Rogers’ presence against the Hurricanes, as the Giants youngster is set to face a two-game ban, with Roby and Josh Johnson also in line for a brief suspension.