Francis Cummins paid tribute to his players after they defeated play-off rivals Wakefield but then called for a significant improvement heading into Sunday’s showdown with Catalan Dragons.

Lee Smith’s try gave the Wildcats late hope but the Bulls held on in a fraught finale to win 26-24 and move to within two points of eighth-placed Hull FC.

The victory encouraged hopes that Bradford can claim their first play-off appearance since 2008 but Cummins insisted they must be better in their remaining four games. The Bulls coach said: “We need to focus now on Catalan and we need to improve.

“We need to ask some more questions of the opposition. We’ve got to build the game a little better but we’re still in the race.

“I’m confident in the boys and we’ve got all we need to win our games but we can’t show the attitude that we showed in the first half towards the ball.

“The character was there but you need more quality if you’re going to turn the ball over like we did, while our finishes were poor in the first half.

“It’s going to be a hard day at the office when that happens. We’re not that sort of team that comes up with a big special play.

“We have to work really hard and get field position then we can start to get at teams.”

The Bulls found themselves 12-0 down in the first half before hitting back through Keith Lulia’s brace and then showing their class in the second half as tries from Tom Olbison, Brett Kearney and Jamie Foster saw them home.

Cummins added: “I’m getting a bit sick of saying we made hard work of it. If there’s a hard way we seem to find it.

“In the first half our attitude with the ball wasn’t good enough. We weren’t playing touch but we were just fluffing around and we didn’t get any kind of pressure.

“I think we got two play-the-balls in their 20-metre line and scored twice.

“That’s what we tried to get second half. Our attitude was better.

“We were having to work really hard for each other defensively and they split us a few times which is concerning.”

John Bateman underwent an operation on his ruptured ankle ligaments on Friday and will miss the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, the Bulls’ Academy side boosted their play-off hopes with a 38-6 win at Wakefield on Saturday but Oliver Roberts sustained a shoulder injury.