Robbie Paul is hoping that Bradford Bulls avoid a "bloody nose" tonight against St Helens.

"We are not focusing at all on the fact Saints are playing in the Challenge Cup final next weekend," admitted the Bulls skipper.

"We have had to address a few things internally following our defeat at London, and tonight is more to do with us.

"We have had two weeks to work on our systems, and we have been focusing on getting it right.

"We are planning to be playing against St Helens at their best, because if we don't they are the sort of side that can give us a bloody nose. We need to be professional about it and we will be.

"We have trained well for the last two weeks following the loss to the Broncos, and we need to play well.

"Losing always makes us dig in a little bit deeper and, although we obviously don't like it, it is sometimes good in that it refocuses our efforts and concentration."

Bulls coach Brian Noble is calling tonight "undoubtedly the biggest game in Tetley's Super League VII so far".

He added: "We have had a few already haven't we? There was the World Club Challenge, and then the game against Leeds in the Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Challenge Cup, followed by our game at the JJB against Wigan, but as regards how far we are into the Super League, this is undoubtedly the biggest game in the competition so far.

"Saints and ourselves like to play against each other, and have done so on many occasions.

"The games are usually stand-out affairs, and I am sure this one will be no exception.

"Saints are playing on the top of their game and they were tremendous in last week's cup game against Leeds.

"They seem to have muscled up on their defence this year and their scrambling is superb.

"They have a desire not to concede points too, so in all aspects of the game they represent a tough challenge for us."

Noble refuses to be fooled by what Saints coach Ian Millward has been saying about fielding a weakened team.

"There have been noises coming out of St Helens this week that they have major injury worries," said Noble.

"That is something I don't subscribe to. We have seen it before with St Helens and we will be preparing to play their strongest side. If they don't bring it to the races, we will play against what they turn up with."