Kingstone Press Championship Preview: Sheffield Eagles v Bradford Bulls

Looking back at the defeat at Halifax, Sheffield Eagles coach Mark Aston felt his team made too many mistakes.

 “We let ourselves down a little bit,” he said.

“There was nothing between the teams, albeit the score suggests that. Looking back at the seven tries they scored I would put them all down to individual errors.

“There were plenty of positives, we started alright with the ball and we had opportunities to score and didn’t take them. The bounce of the ball didn’t go our way but there were plenty of things to talk about. We need to make sure we try and get a bit of belief and confidence back because the players are feeling it a little bit, it wasn’t the performance they wanted.

“We’re only an inch or so away for being where we want to be. We’re still in control of our own destiny, we’ve got three games to go and are still two points clear.

“We’ve got Bradford this week then Featherstone and London, which are all tough games but we want tough games. Hard physical games is what Rugby League is about.”

Centre Sam Smeaton will be available this week.

Bradford Bulls coach James Lowes said: “Sheffield will be a challenge, it will be a tough game. They didn’t play particularly well last week, from what I’ve seen, but they’ve got some good players and will have a good go. We put pressure on ourselves to perform. For the boys that will be playing this week it will be an opportunity to showcase themselves.”