Cummins optimistic of Bulls’ play-off hopes

Bradford coach Francis Cummins has insisted that the club’s play-off hopes are still in their own hands.

The Bulls have lost four of their last five Super League games, a run of form that has raised concern among some supporters.

And with Bradford travelling to ninth-placed Hull KR on Sunday, Cummins is adamant that the Bulls will qualify for the play-offs for the first time since 2008.

He said: “I’ve said to the players ‘it’s all down to us’. It doesn’t matter what anybody else does – if we take care of our job then we do it. It’s that simple.

“We know it’s going to be tough but these are probably the tough times.

“There will be a backlash from Hull KR after what happened to them last week (against Hull FC) but we just need to get back on the horse.

“We’ve got to have that hunger as well because we let ourselves down last week. We are better than what we showed against Huddersfield.

“We’ll make sure we’ll definitely be better this week. We work really hard for each other normally but we came up with 51 missed tackles on Sunday. If you’re going to miss those tackles, you’re not going to win any game.”

Adrian Purtell and Jacob Fairbank will miss the trip to Hull but John Bateman and Matty Blythe are fit and available to Cummins.