Francis Cummins admits he is unlikely to add to his injury-hit squad ahead of the Magic Weekend showdown with Huddersfield at the Etihad Stadium next Sunday.

The Bulls coach was missing eight first-team players through injury during yesterday’s 50-0 hammering at the hands of St Helens after Luke Gale and Manase Manuokafoa were ruled out.

Gale had been suffering through sickness in the week and then felt his hamstring tighten up during training, while Manuokafoa remained sidelined with the same problem and was similarly not risked.

It remains to be seen whether they will be available to face the Giants and, while James Donaldson could return, on-loan Huddersfield prop Antonio Kaufusi is ineligible to face his parent club.

Chev Walker picked up a knock yesterday but, when asked about the prospect of bolstering his threadbare squad before the weekend, Cummins said: “Probably not because the situation is that the clubs who have got players are holding on to them.

“There are a few more clubs now getting dragged into it (relegation fight) and they’re getting very nervous, so there are not a lot of players out there. We’ll keep trying but it’s not easy.”

Saints scrum half Luke Walsh was the architect of his side’s victory with a stellar display.

But Cummins admitted: “We knew it was going to be tough and we had Galey and Nas pull out even after our last training session, so it did move us around.

“I must pay tribute to Luke George (after a rib injury) because we had Nathan Conroy as the only other fit player in the entire club. He put his hand up and came through okay.

“We started off well but just kept giving away cheap ball and you can’t afford to do that against Saints. We then went into a bit of freefall and it was always going to be difficult then.

“Mentally we were trying to come up with big plays when all we needed to do was stick to the process.

“You can’t afford not to kick out for penalties because it starts to become a training run for the opposition.”

Wakefield had edged eight points clear of the Bulls with their victory at Widnes on Friday night.

But Cummins said: “We’ve not focused on anything else. We’re trying not to even think about winning – we just need to keep the process of accumulating possession and doing what we’re doing.

“We can’t control anything outside our little bit. Wakefield will do what they do and if it’s not Wakefield we are chasing down then it will be someone else.

“We need to get back to what we had done in the past couple of weeks and be a bit more assured with what we’re doing.”