Bulls caretaker boss Lee St Hilaire has called on his players to prove a point to themselves, rather than their new boss, at St Helens tomorrow night.

The Knowsley Road clash will see Bradford come face-to-face with Saints boss Mick Potter for the first time since last month’s announcement he will assume the Odsal hot-seat in 2011.

With eight of the current squad off contract at the end of the year, many will be anxious to catch the eye but St Hilaire is keen for them not to heap any added pressure on themselves.

Although a run of 11 straight defeats has almost certainly ended play-off hopes, the acting head coach believes there should be plenty still to play for.

“They’ve got to show themselves that they’re still rugby league players,” he said.

“We haven’t become bad players or a bad side over 11 games. They still have to have the belief that they can go out there and perform against St Helens.

“But I’d rather they didn’t put themselves under extra pressure because it’s not all going to be down to one game for Mick to decide whether they stay or go away from the club.

“I’d rather they didn’t but subconsciously some of them probably will be.”

St Hilaire’s own future has already been tied up, the 44-year-old having been given a new one-year deal to stay on as Potter’s assistant.

The pair have already been in contact as part of plans for next season but will not let future working relationships get in the way of rivalries tonight.

St Hilaire said: “I’ve had a couple of conversations with him really because we needed to touch base regarding players and next year. But I won’t be speaking to him this week until I see him on Friday.”

And St Hilaire is well aware of the threat Potter and his players pose to the Bulls’ hopes of an end to their recent woes.

Despite losing to Leeds in last week’s Challenge Cup semi-final, Saints beat Warrington the week before to move level on points with Super League’s second-placed side and look well-placed for a run at the Grand Final.

St Hilaire said: “We didn’t perform in our last game against Catalans but I thought we performed against the other teams, we just didn’t execute right – coming up with the right play at the right time or the right kick at the right time.

“That’s something we’re addressing for Friday night, albeit we’re coming up against a quality outfit.

“You start at the back with the old bloke Paul Wellens. Everyone calls him the old man of rugby league but that’s nonsense, he’s a quality player.

“Francis Meli, James Graham, Keiron Cunningham – the list’s endless, so we’ll have to perform at our very best individually and collectively to get the job done.”