MARK Dunning has come away from Bradford’s Monday night defeat at Featherstone feeling “bitter” after having confidence in his side to steal the victory.

The Bulls proved a real test for the Betfred Championship promotion favourites and the 26-12 scoreline could have been far different if the visitors were more accurate with the boot, with Dec Patton missing three conversions and a penalty.

After the fixture, Dunning said to the T&A: “We lost a game of rugby that we genuinely thought we could win, and if we take our kicking opportunities then I believe we do win that game. In the dressing room, I've spoke to the players about sticking together because we always say that you can't stay too high after a big win but you can't stay too low after a loss.

“Featherstone are a really good team and this is a difficult place to come. It's a hostile place, they're a good team and they play this field really well, so we knew that we’d be in for a big challenge tonight. However, we believe in our own ability and we genuinely thought we could get the job done tonight; that's why it is so bitter to take. If we had been the best version of ourselves then I believe we get on the bus home with two points in the bag.”

Dunning added: “We’ll put our arms around each other and arrive back at training this week because we've got to turn our focus to Sunday and the Challenge Cup.

Patton, who was Bradford’s kicking hero in their victory over Toulouse last week, had a rare off night for the Bulls as he squandered the opportunity to add an extra eight points to Bradford’s tally on Monday evening, but Dunning feels that no blame should be placed on him.

He said: “I think the game becomes different if the scoreboard is level at 20-all; it becomes more of a nervous game. There's no point in saying what if and pointing the finger at any individual. Dec’s job is kicking goals but he's usually very good at it, so we’ll put our arms around him because the group is far more important than individuals.”

Dunning confirmed the injuries of two key players after the game, saying: “We’ve lost Bodene (Thompson) there, he failed his HIA, so he’ll be out for the weekend. We’ve lost Michael Lawrence as well to a hamstring injury. We are not too sure how severe it is yet but it's a bit of a sore note losing two of your senior players.”

As of late Bradford have had their fair share of disciplinary punishment issued, and Goerge Roby was the latest player to be sin-binned for the Bulls at Featherstone on Monday evening.

The Huddersfield loanee was penalised for an off the ball incident in the first half when the game was on a knife-edge, and the hosts were able to profit on their man-advantage with a try.

Reflecting on the dismissal of Roby, Dunning said: “I’m not fully sure, but I think there was a coming together between George and one of their players. I don't want to have a go at the referees, but I’ll have a look over it to see what happened.

“It was a very crucial part of the game, but it's one of them. If it’s an act of foul play and he deserved it, then we deserve it and I’ll have to deal with it. It was one of many turning points in the game; losing Bodene Thompson was another.

“If you look at the two tries Featherstone scored late on, they both came down the channel where Bodene Thompson was defending like a rock, so that cost us dearly as well. On the other hand, if you concede opportunities to a team of their quality, they'll get you in the end and that's what they did.”

On refereeing decisions throughout the contest, Bradford’s boss admitted: “I thought there were some real contentious ones in there. Yes, some of the penalties handed to us were definitely the right call, but there were some real soft ones in there; some 50-50 decisions and I don't think we got one of them in our favour. I'll have a look at them and then decide where to go from there.”