Hull FC’s injury problems deepened again on the eve of their trip to Odsal, with James Bell ruled out for four to six weeks after suffering a meniscus injury in training. It was his second knee injury of the season, and it added fresh strain to a squad already short of senior options before the match with Bradford Bulls.

Bell had already missed the start of the campaign after a separate knee issue in pre-season training. His latest setback came as Connor Bailey and Matty Laidlaw also dropped out of the 21-man squad. Bailey broke his collarbone in the defeat to Toulouse Olympique last time out and is expected to miss several months, while Laidlaw was unavailable after suffering a concussion playing for the reserves last week.

Those absences sit on top of a long list of players Hull have been managing through injury. John Asiata remains out with a long-term hamstring injury, Will Pryce is finished for the season with an ACL injury, Herman Ese'ese has still not returned after an Achilles injury suffered last season, Jed Cartwright is unavailable after a major hamstring injury, and Sam Lisone is recovering from a pectoral injury.

There was at least one boost for the club in the build-up to the game. Ethan O'Neill joined the 21-man squad after completing a loan move from Leeds Rhinos, while Ligi Sao returned after injury and Callum Kemp, Lloyd Kemp and Will Kirby were also included. Harry Newman went back to Leeds Rhinos, and Lennon Clark dropped out as Hull reshaped their options for the Super League trip.

Even with the changes, Hull went into the Bradford game sitting ninth in Super League after ten rounds and four points adrift of the play-offs. That leaves little room for error, especially with the side not for the first time trying to navigate a fixture against Bradford Bulls without a string of senior players. The squad named for the match also included Harvey Barron, Davy Litten, Zak Hardaker, Lewis Martin, Jake Arthur, Aidan Sezer, Amir Bourouh, Harvie Hill, Joe Batchelor, Cade Cust, Tom Briscoe, Yusuf Aydin, Brad Fash, Logan Moy, Will Hutchinson and Jeremiah Mata'utia.

The injury count has become the central story around Hull rather than the league table itself. With Bell sidelined again and several others still missing, the club’s immediate task is simply to keep enough experienced bodies on the field to stay in touch with the teams above them.