Bradford Bulls chief executive Abi Ekoku is refusing to be side-tracked by St Helens coach Ian Millward ahead of their big clash at Valley Parade on Saturday night.

The Saints coach has had more than one snipe at the Bulls this week in national newspapers.

Millward, whose squad have been badly hit by injuries, said: "I'm disappointed that they are asking if we have got the bottle to turn up with a full team.

"It is not a question of bottle. We didn't carry on like that when we were world champions.

"Threatening us to bring our best team is not going to make us do it. My responsibility is to protect my players."

The often controversial coach of the Challenge Cup holders then added: "Bradford can say what they like, but I'm sure they would love to be going to Murrayfield next week."

Ekoku said: "I am not going to respond to his comments, but what I will say is that it does not matter what team St Helens field, the Bulls have generally had the ascendancy in clashes against them, and that will continue this weekend.

"Any team that you can defeat - particularly if they are likely to be play-off rivals - then you establish a psychological edge against them when the Grand Final comes around.

"And the heavier the defeat, the deeper the wound will be."

Millward has followed Bulls skipper Robbie Paul by hitting out at the Super League fixture list after running into an injury crisis the week before the Murrayfield final.

Millward says he has just ten players available for their trip to Valley Parade, and has approached fellow Super League clubs in an effort to bolster his thin squad. The Australian has criticised the fixture format, which sees clubs playing an additional six matches to give them 14 home games, and insists that an enlarged representative programme will further increase the likelihood of burn-out for the game's leading players.

"We're coming off the back of a huge Easter weekend and two games against Leeds," Millward told a news conference at Knowsley Road.

"With the intensity of rugby league at the moment, the players can't keep doing it.

"International rugby league is great. I'm a big supporter of it and these players want it.

"The schedule they've got in place is going to be fantastic, but until they address the amount of games we play in Super League, we're going to water down the product. We can't afford to play 28 games and that international programme. We've got to protect our No 1 product, and that's the players."