Bulls coach Francis Cummins is demanding a big performance from his players as they seek to get their play-off bid back on track at Salford tonight.

Cummins’ men will head to the City of Salford Stadium on the back of three successive Super League losses and a miserable Tetley’s Challenge Cup exit at London Broncos last Friday.

Despite their recent poor sequence of results, the Bulls lie seventh in the table and only a point behind fifth-placed Catalan Dragons.

A win tonight against Brian Noble’s bottom-placed side would breath new life into their campaign and Cummins expects a significant improvement from last week’s performance at the Twickenham Stoop.

The Bulls boss is set to hand a debut to Jacob Fairbank after he signed on a one-month loan deal from Huddersfield Giants.

Asked about his side’s recent run, Cummins said: “It’s certainly not a rut.

“Yes, we lost to London, who probably played as well as they have done this year, but the other sides we’ve lost to – Wigan, Warrington and Leeds – are obviously very good teams.

“But I’m looking for a decent display because in all those games we had some very good spells but weren’t good enough to get the result.

“We need to keep on with what we are doing and have faith in what we are doing.

“We showed a lot of good stuff against London but we need to be more patient at our opponents’ end of the field.”

Brett Kearney sustained a groin injury against the Broncos and will begin a spell on the sidelines tonight.

Manase Manuokafoa is out for up to seven weeks with a fractured thumb, and Adam Sidlow (shoulder) could also miss out.

But Jamie Langley is poised to return after a three-match absence, and Cummins is urging his more experienced players to step up.

He added: “We made the metres against London but didn’t come up with the plays and we just need to settle down and be more composed.

“We need our experienced players to take more control of the game; to step up a bit, calm everyone down and enjoy the territory. We didn’t get much field position in the first half but after the break we dominated without taking the right options.”

Salford have struggled badly this season, and the effects of multimillionaire Marwan Koukash’s takeover are unlikely to be felt until next year.

Cummins, who is likely to pair Danny Addy with Luke Gale in the halves and switch Jarrod Sammut to full back in Kearney’s absence, said: “Salford are going through a bad time in terms of results but they have new coaching staff and their players will want to impress them.

“We need to get back to our best, and if we do that then I am confident we’ll get the result, but it’ll be tricky.”