Bradford Bulls will not risk Aussie star Justin Brooker in tomorrow's tricky Silk Cut Challenge Cup fourth round with Huddersfield/Sheffield at Odsal.
Brooker is still troubled by the thumb injury which forced him to miss the friendly with Wakefield last Sunday so he sits out the televised clash.
The Bulls will be boosted though by the return of Stuart Spruce after recovering from a close season shoulder injury.
Spruce drops in at full-back while Nathan McAvoy deputises for broken hand victim Tevita Vaikona on the right wing.
Elliott's 18-man squad also includes the fit again Bernard Dwyer but he will have to be content with a place on the bench at best with new boys Brad Mackay, Hudson Smith and Mike Forshaw forming a new back-row combination.
The Bulls will be driven on by some bitter recent Challenge Cup disappointments when they head out on the Murrayfield trail.
Coach Matthew Elliott and his men still have painful memories of last season's semi-final defeat by eventual winners Leeds Rhinos as well as the final defeats by St Helens in 1996 and 1997.
"Of course those were disappointments but a lot of our focus in the close season has been just how we can make that extra step and put the final touches to our hard work and that means winning things.
"We only get one bite of the cherry with tomorrow's game and we are very focused on that.
"We are hearing a lot coming out of the Giants camp that they are very confident about turning us over. They are going into camp before the match and they will be fired up.
"But I think the boys know what is at stake and they will be well prepared and up for it."
Meanwhile Bulls chairman Chris Caisley is calling for backing at the turnstiles to help enhance the club's profile on national television.
"I know the temptation might be to stay at home and watch on TV but it should be a very competitive game and you can't beat seeing a live game."
Bulls: Spruce; McAvoy, Naylor, Withers, Pryce; H Paul, R Paul; McDermott, Lowes, Fielden, Forshaw, Smith, Mackay. Subs (from) Peacock, Radford, Anderson, Dwyer, Boyle.
Giants: Reilly; Thorman, Lovell, Sovatabua, Crowther; Ngamu, Clinch; Molloy, Lawless, Laughton, Lomax, Marshall, Hardy. Subs: Fozzard, Gleeson, Russell, Rice.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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