Leeds Rhinos hooker Danny Levi is “back to his usual annoying self”, but it’s not yet clear how long he will be off the field.

Levi needed hospital treatment after being knocked out during Rhinos’ 36-34 derby defeat at Castleford Tigers last Sunday. He is automatically ruled out of this weekend’s Sky Sports+ and SuperLeague+-streamed home clash with Bradford Bulls, along with second-row Chris Hankinson who failed a head injury assessment at OneBore Stadium. Number nine Jarrod O’Connor will return from concussion and highly-rated rookie Ben Littlewood is set to start in the back-row.

Speaking at his weekly preview press conference today (Thursday), coach Brad Arthur said: “Danny is in good spirits - he’s back to his usual annoying self! He is fine, he has recovered pretty well.

Medics treat Leeds Rhinos' Danny Levi on the field at Castleford Tigers. Picture by Matthew Merrick/SWpix.com.

“He had another set of scans on Tuesday and we are just waiting to hear back from the specialist, which probably won’t be until early next week. There might be some issues around some disk bulge and stuff like that, which a lot of players have and he had one previously anyway, but in terms of major damage to his neck or anything like that, he has got the all-clear and in terms of the concussion, he has got over that.”

However, Arthur added: “When he is right to play, we don’t know. That’s not on the top of our mind at the moment. We’ll hear back from the specialist and go from there.”

Rhinos led 20-4 at the time of Levi’s injury, but - after a lengthy delay - conceded two tries in the five minutes before half-time. “It probably had more of an effect on us than we realised,” Arthur stated.

“When there was that long stoppage I didn’t send any messages out. I sort of lost my focus on the team and what we were actually there for; my focus was actually on Danny and his wife and his daughter. I just wanted to make sure they were okay. Looking back on it, I think Danny is more important than a game of footy.”

Ben Littlewood is set to start in the second-row for Leeds Rhinos against Bradford Bulls on Sunday, which will be his first appearance for them since the win over Hull KR in Las Vegas five months ago. Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com.

Arthur admitted his players were “knocked around by seeing it”. He stressed: “We are not looking for excuses, it’s just one of those unfortunate things that happen. We probably didn’t handle it the best, but we’ll move on from it. Danny’s fine now and that’s the main thing.”

As previously reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, Hankinson has also been ruled out of Sunday’s derby, which will be refereed by Aaron Moore. Arthur explained: “He stumbled in the tackle and the rule is there straight away; regardless of how he pulls up it’s a category one so he will miss this week. Again, he is fine now and he is tracking to be right next week.”

Littlewood has made two substitute appearances this year, the second of those in the win against Hull KR at Las Vegas five months ago. He had a spell on loan at York Knights and made his comeback from a hand injury in Leeds’ reserves last week.

“We were going so well on the injury front, but now we’ve got five or six it just opens up opportunities for other guys,” Arthur vowed. “It was always going to happen, they just had to be patient, train well and wait for their opportunity.

Leeds Rhinos' Chris Hankinson will sit out Sunday's derby against Bradford Bulls, but is set to return when Toulouse Olympique visit AMT Headingley five days later. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.

“Now, it’s up to them to own it - These are the chances they have been waiting for. We have got all the confidence in the world, we are not going to put Ben on the bench and ease him in, we’re going to put him straight there on the left-side. He has had a full week of training and he’ll do a good job for us.”