It will be Wigan, but not as we know them.

Mike Forshaw is predicting a completely different Wigan side will be confronting the Bulls at Odsal tonight - with the visitors favourites.

Bradford defeated Stuart Raper's Warriors in the Challenge Cup semi-finals in April and then again three weeks later at a rain-soaked JJB, but the stars were missing.

But now Great Britain skipper Andy Farrell is back, Wigan are firing on all cylinders again and the Bulls can expect a torrid time.

"They are a completely different team now," said Forshaw, a close friend of Farrell and a former Wigan player. "They will have seen the tape of the game where London beat us here and feel that we are not invincible at home.

"They beat us here in 2000 and will want to do so again. They have got some of their stars back and are on a bit of a roll at the moment.

"We all know they have some great young players and things are beginning to click for them now and they are getting stronger.

"They are probably favourites for this game and if we play like we did last week they will probably beat us."

But the Bulls are unlikely to put in more error-strewn performances like the last three that saw them gain narrow victories at Hull and Warrington and lose at home to London. They have a habit of raising themselves for the big games, and will be looking for a repeat of last month's hammering of the Super League leaders.

"We need to raise ourselves like we did when Leeds came down here," said Forshaw, who still lives in Wigan. "There will be a big crowd down here and we will be looking to raise a game for that.

"These are the sort of games that really inspire you and the ones we enjoy playing in.

"When you get to this stage of your career you have to make all these games count."

Forshaw has been suffering from a sore back but feels he has now recovered fully in time for one of the biggest games of the season.

The second versus third clash is expected to attract more than 20,000 people to Odsal tomorrow for the third time this season.

l The Bulls' Academy side are at home to Wigan in a curtain-raiser to the main game tomorrow.

The Academy game kicks off at 3.40pm with the Bulls currently second in the table behind St Helens, having lost only one game, their opening league fixture at Knowsley Road.

Last week saw the young Bulls involved in a nail-biting finish at home to Halifax, with Ryan Collins kicking the winning goal in injury time.

The Bulls side includes some of the brightest prospects in the game with Nicky Saxton, Karl Pryce, Brett Ferres, Richard Dobson, John Parkinson and Richard Johnson all taking part in the recent Junior Academy Origin Series.