JIMMY Lowes saw the Bulls claim top spot in the Championship but then insisted: "I'm not reading too much into that."

Lowes' troops reached the summit for the first time this season after edging two points clear of promotion rivals Leigh with a 34-16 win over Batley.

But after a performance in which the Bulls again failed to perform for the full 80 minutes, Lowes was not getting carried away.

"I'm not particularly interested in that because what we need to do is get ourselves in a position where we can challenge in the middle eights," said the Bulls head coach.

"We are there by default because Leigh have a game in hand – and I'm not reading too much into 17 straight wins either.

"We had a job to do and we have a job to do on Wednesday against Featherstone.

"That's the focus, irrelevant of how many wins we have on the board, and I'm certainly not bothered about being top of the league."

For the second time this season, John Kear's side pushed the Bulls hard but Batley were outscored by seven tries to three.

Bradford were also forced to deploy Adrian Purtell in the halves alongside Danny Addy owing to the unavailability of Harry Siejka, Lee Gaskell and Jake Mullaney.

Lowes, who paid tribute to two-try Matty Blythe, said: "We conceded three really soft tries and that was the disappointing thing.

"That aside, I thought we went through some good periods in the game and some slack ones. It was good to come out with a decent win in the end.

"Matty Blythe plays with a lot of energy and never gives up, which are some of the things I like about him. It's good to have him back.

"I don't believe in resting people and I don't think you need to if you're a professional sportsman."

Siejka had made his comeback from ankle surgery in the previous week's win at Workington but he missed out yesterday after aggravating the problem.

Lowes said: "Harry was just struggling with his ankle. He had played the full 80 minutes up at Workington after ten weeks out.

"But his ankle was a bit sore this week and, touch wood, he will be okay for Wednesday. I've no concern with my half-back options."

Lowes said the Bulls suffered no other injury concerns, with club captain Chev Walker also coming back unscathed from a knee problem.

But Mullaney will remain absent against Featherstone in midweek after Lowes confirmed: "Jake won't be right to play."