Steve McNamara has called on his players to get their heads right before launching into battle with St Helens on Sunday.

The Bulls boss is anticipating a high-intensity, high-quality showdown at Odsal and knows mental preparation will be every bit as important as the physical.

Everyone at the club found defeat at Huddersfield last week extremely hard to take, seeing it as a significant missed opportunity.

But, building on the positives from that performance, McNamara is confident his side are making the adjustments required to turn defeat into victory. Discipline and strength of mind will be crucial to that.

McNamara said: “We’re playing against a very good side at the weekend but we’re also a very good side. It’s going to be two good sides going head-to-head on Sunday.

“We need to make sure we’re mentally ready for that challenge and fix up a few things execution-wise to make sure we get across the line this week.

“It’s important to improve and, as long as we tweak and adjust a couple of things, we’ll win a lot of games this season.”

Disappointment from the Giants loss has not been allowed to linger at Odsal.

The Bulls have used that setback to push themselves higher, with McNamara keen to establish a culture of accountability and self-reflection among his players.

He said: “They are very critical of themselves and their own performances and they all felt there were a couple of key areas they could do better.

“I’m really pleased with the response from the group and the attitude and approach of the whole group.

“They’re very professional people and if they slightly go below their high expectations, they’ll be as disappointed as anyone is, there’s no question about that.

“That’s what we’re looking for and that’s what we’re trying to manufacture here.”

St Helens also lost their opening game of the season, going down 32-12 at home to Hull FC – a result that heaped pressure on coach Mick Potter.

But McNamara is not expecting any weakness from Saints, a side who have reached four consecutive Grand Finals.

He said: “I felt Saints were very good early on and they were close to executing a couple of plays that would have put Hull on the back foot.

“Unfortunately that didn’t happen for them, they picked up a couple of injuries and the game ran the other way, which can happen in rugby league.

“We’re all really looking forward to the game and can’t wait to get back to Odsal too.

“The support was unbelievable at Huddersfield, it was brilliant and we’re looking forward to playing in front of our home fans.”

The Bulls have no fresh injury concerns for Sunday's game.

Michael Platt is expecting to be back within two weeks as he continues to progress well following a knee injury but Danny Sculthorpe could face an extended spell on the sidelines after an operation on his troublesome back.