Prop Brian McDermott is in danger of losing his ever-present tag when the Bulls go head-to-head with arch rivals Leeds Rhinos at Valley Parade on Sunday.

The club's longest serving player had scans yesterday on a damaged knee which forced him to retire mid-way through the first half of the 44-4 weekend win over Castleford.

And coach Brian Noble admitted: "It's looking at this stage as if he will be struggling for Sunday. The knee is very sore but he has a fair amount of movement.

"He has had some trouble with some floating bone and we won't know until we get the results of the scan whether surgery is required."

News of Aussie duo Daniel Gartner and Graham Mackay is much better though.

"Danny got a cut eye early in the Castleford game and it re-opened when he went back on. But it has been stitched and there will be no problem for the Leeds game.

"Graham Mackay has had a bruised knee which we felt wasn't worth risking against Cas' but he will be right back in contention this weekend."

The Bulls are urging fans to avoid congestion for Sunday's 3pm kick-off by purchasing tickets in advance from Odsal.

The switch to Sunday has allowed Noble to give his players an extra day off in preparation for the Rhinos clash.

They will now report on Thursday although the Paul brothers are expected to check in earlier following their return from international duty Down Under yesterday afternoon.

Fans and club officials are anxiously awaiting a decision from Henry on whether he is staying with the club next season but Noble is not expecting any speedy developments.

"Henry will meet with his agent when he gets back and it could be a couple of weeks before we get a decision," added Noble.

Meanwhile the Bulls have thanked civic leaders and leading businessmen in the city for their support on Sunday.

They had urged Bradford people to attend the game and help return the city to normality after the recent riots.

Bulls chief executive Abi Ekoku said: "We would like to thank them for taking the time out to attend the game themselves. It was wonderful atmosphere in the stadium and it sent out a very positive message for the City.

"We have now broken down the barrier that may have existed and we look forward to having a huge crowd for our game against Leeds Rhinos on Sunday."