Coach Brian Noble picked out Lee Gilmour for special praise as the Bulls consolidated their lead at the top of Super League.

The pacy centre celebrated his call-up for Yorkshire in midweek by grabbing a hat-trick in the side's 42-10 win over plucky Salford Reds at Valley Parade last night to double his try tally for the club.

"He was outstanding," enthused Noble. "He has improved week-by-week and he's enjoying himself.

"He is listening real well in training and I feel there is a lot more improvement in him as well.

"When he came here he was keen to play in the centre and I told him I would give him that opportunity and he has taken it with both hands.

"He looked very dangerous every time he carried the ball. He's strong and quick and he is stopping his opposite number coming the other way too which is a bonus for us all."

Noble also paid tribute to Salford's spirited effort.

He said: "There was perhaps an element of cruise control in our performance at times but give Salford full credit.

"They had a few players out and could easily have thrown in the towel when they were 16-0 down early on but they muscled up and caused us a lot of problems.

"I was pretty satisfied with our performance overall but we can't be expected to produce exceptional performances like we have been doing every week.

"It was drizzling which made the ball greasy and it was difficult to do what we wanted to do.

"In spells I still thought we played really good rugby but we made a lot of errors and it meant we had to defend a fair bit."

The Bulls will now focus on gaining revenge for their Challenge Cup final defeat when they take on St Helens at Knowsley Road on Saturday night.

Forwards Mike Forshaw and Jamie Peacock will be back in the side after being taken out of the firing line last night.

"They both had small knocks but basically I rested them," explained Noble. "They have been outstanding for us this season and could have played if they were needed but I had the luxury of bringing Graham Mackay and Shane Rigon back."