BULLS head coach Jimmy Lowes has warned Sheffield counterpart Mark Aston: We're ready for you.

The sides clash at Odsal tomorrow, where a win for the Eagles would see them draw level on points with Lowes' troops.

Aston said earlier this week that his third-placed side had yet to hit top form and queried whether the Bulls could handle their attacking threats this weekend.

But Lowes declared his men up for the challenge of putting the part-timers in their place.

"I know that Mark Aston has been talking it up – but the game is at Odsal and we'll be ready for them," he said.

"They're a decent side with one or two decent players who we know very well, along with some decent overseas players.

"They've been very consistent in the Championship in recent seasons, so it's a challenge for us to be ready and up for the game.

"We'll be a massive challenge for them and as much as they'll be up for facing us, we'll be up for facing them too."

The Eagles have again emerged as one of the strongest sides in the Championship this year.

Jamie Langley, Kyle Briggs, Keal Carlile, Duane Straugheir and Tony Tonks have all plied their trade at Odsal previously and give Sheffield's squad a strong ex-Bradford flavour.

Lowes is expecting a vast improvement from his players after they shipped seven tries against struggling Doncaster.

"Defending is all about limiting the opportunities to the opposition and we were disappointed with our performance last week," he said.

"We had pushed the players really hard in the week leading up to the Doncaster match and we'd had a decent game against Hull KR the week before.

"We were disappointed with some of the scores we conceded against Hull KR but a couple of crucial, game-changing decisions went against us. Had they gone the other way, I don't think we would have had 50 points put on us.

"Let's also be right about last week – we had Alex Mellor and Jay Pitts playing in the centres because of injuries, so it was tough. Steve Crossley got a niggle as well, so we didn't want to push him back on.

"All those factors considered – while we're disappointed with the amount of tries we conceded, of course we are – we looked a bit fatigued, which was a result of the training more than anything."

Crossley (hamstring), Jean-Philippe Baile (quad) and Chev Walker (knee) are all sidelined from the injuries they sustained last weekend.

But Danny Williams, Adrian Purtell and Epalahame Lauaki are set to return and Bulls star Lee Gaskell accepts his side must tighten up defensively.

"Last week a was a very tough game – but you've got to credit Doncaster because I thought they were fantastic," he said.

"Every team ups their game against Bradford but I think that match against Hull KR took a lot of us mentally as well as physically, although to concede 38 points to any team in this league is not good enough.

"Sheffield are a good side and they pushed Leigh right to the end the other week. I think our defence has been good all season and I think it was our mental attitude thinking 'we score, they score'. We don't want to get into games like that."