Bradford v St Helens: Teams
Two of Super League's heavyweights meet in front of the Sky cameras on Friday night.
Last Updated: 21/02/08 3:32pm
Two of Super League's heavyweights meet in front of the Sky cameras at Odsal on Friday night looking to kick-on after their slow starts to the new season.
The Bulls bounced back from their shock opening round defeat to the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats by thumping the Huddersfield Giants 38-12 in round two.
Paul Sykes, Terry Newton, Glenn Morrison, James Evans and Simon Finnigan all scored tries in that victory at the weekend and have again been named in Steve McNamara's unchanged 20-man squad.
David Solomona (knee) and Semi Tadulala (cheekbone) remain sidelined through injury, but captain Paul Deacon will be a key figure again after putting in an immaculate performance with the boot against the Giants.
Former Wakfield half-back Ben Jeffries is in line to make his home debut meanwhile, as the Bulls look for a repeat of their 10-4 success at home to Saints last season.
Return
St Helens went down 24-22 against Hull Kingston Rovers in their opener, but were back to their best against the Warrington Wolves at Knowsley Road last time out.
The big news on the injury front is the return of Saints skipper Paul Sculthorpe after eight months on the sidelines, with Chris Dean providing cover at centre.
Sculthorpe has returned from knee and Achilles problems to make Daniel Anderson's 20-man squad along with centre Willie Talau, who missed the season's first two games with a groin injury.
Loose forward Chris Flannery has torn his quadricep muscle meanwhile, and joins Jason Cayless, Jon Wilkin (knee) and Maurie Fa'asavalu (thumb) on the sidelines.
Youngster Gareth Frodsham keeps his place after making his debut against Wolves at the weekend, while Steve Tyrer has been working on his kicking game all week.
Saints won the last meeting between the teams 34-22 at Knowsley Road and neither side will not want to drop any further behind Super League pacesetters Leeds Rhinos.
Bradford 20-man squad: Morrison, Burgess, Sykes, Newton, Hape, Deacon, Evans, Halley, Nero, Cook, Vagana, James, Tupou, Platt, Harris, Godwin, Jeffries, Finnigan, Lynch, Langley.
St Helens 20-man squad: Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Talau, Meli, Pryce, Long, Fozzard, Cunningham, Gilmour, Sculthorpe, Roby, Bennett, Graham, Hargreaves, Smith, Clough, Tyrer, Frodsham, Dean.