Chairman Chris Caisley believes Bradford Bulls could have taken 12,000 fans to Halifax for this weekend's crunch quarter-final clash if The Shay did not have a limited capacity.

Ten thousand fans look set to pack into the Blue Sox's ground on Sunday with the Bulls' loyal army of fans making up more than half the crowd.

And the Bulls chief believes this will give Matthew Elliott's side a massive boost as they look to book their place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals.

He said: "We received 4,000 tickets from Halifax for the game which sold out very quickly, and I think a lot of our fans have bought tickets from the Shay.

"I confidently predict that more than half the crowd will be cheering us on, which is absolutely fantastic.

"Unfortunately the Halifax ground is not big enough to accommodate all our fans. Our ticket office has been inundated with people who can't get tickets, and unfortunately some of our staff have had to take flak.

"The fact is the ground is not big enough to cater for us. If it was, we would have probably taken 12,000 fans. As we have said in the past, we have to give priority to season-ticket holders.

"It will be a great atmosphere. Unlike Odsal, the crowd is pretty close to the pitch and that means the fans will be on top of the players. Our fans can play a big part."

Caisley has been delighted with the Bulls' stunning start to the season, in which there have been convincing Cup victories over Hudders-field-Sheffield and Wakefield, as well as a fine win at St Helens in the Super League opener.

But he knows that the Bulls cannot afford to rest on their laurels in such an important game.

Caisley said: "You can't take anything for gran-ted against Halifax. Ever since Super league started, they have always caused us difficulties at their ground.

"It is quite a small pitch at The Shay so we can't afford to sit there and start to believe the press we have had in the last few weeks.

"At the start of the season no one seemed to want to know us, but now everyone is tipping us to win things. We must not let that affect us.

"As a club, we are very fortunate that the players we have here are not only good players, but great professionals as well."

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