ADAM O’Brien admits the Bulls owe Leigh one as they seek to avenge their defeat in the Summer Bash and give their top-four hopes a much-needed shot in the arm.

The fierce Championship rivals have clashed five times already in the past two seasons with Bradford seeking only their second win tomorrow.

Significantly, the Bulls' only previous success against the Centurions came at the Leigh Sports Village in a memorable win during last season’s Qualifiers.

They pushed them all the way in Blackpool last month before a late try from Micky Higham condemned them to an agonising defeat.

Bulls hooker O’Brien, who is looking forward to pitting his wits against veteran opposite number Higham, accepts Rohan Smith’s men must improve on last week’s home loss to Halifax.

Another loss for Bradford this weekend could leave them three points adrift of the top four with only three games remaining.

O’Brien said: “After losing to Halifax, this week against Leigh is a massive game and we are going to have to turn it around and hopefully get the two points.

“We’ve got a fight on our hands now to make the top four and it’s going to be a tough game.

“Leigh are in good form at the moment and have been consistent all year, but hopefully we can get the victory.

“They have spent some big money on some big names like Travis Burns, Josh Drinkwater and Micky Higham.

“They are three big players for them but they have others too and it’s going to be a real challenge that we need to overcome if we are to get the two points.

“The game at the Summer Bash was gutting because we were on top and Higham got a last-minute try under the sticks to give Leigh the win.

“But we need to crack on and hopefully gain revenge for that.”

O’Brien admitted the Bulls squad were “down in the dumps” after losing to Halifax but feels they are ready to engineer a major improvement and avoid the indignity of missing out on the top four.

O’Brien, who will share hooking duties with Wakefield loanee Stuart Howarth again tomorrow, said: “Rohan said after video review on Monday ‘that’s it now, we can’t look back, it’s gone’.

“There is a bit of a buzz about the place now and we let the fans down last week, so we’re determined to repay them now.

“We’ve made it hard for ourselves by dropping out of the top four with games running out.

“Last year it was Leigh and ourselves in first and second all year, but this year has been different and we don’t want to be playing in the Championship Shield.

“We want to be coming up against Super League opposition like Leeds and Huddersfield because the atmosphere would be fantastic and they would be great occasions for everybody connected with the club.”

Bulls forward Jay Pitts, one of the few players to emerge from the Halifax humiliation with any real credit, is fully aware of the significance of tomorrow’s game.

He said: “Every game against Leigh is massive and if you’re not up for a game like this then you shouldn’t be playing.

“It’s about peaking at the right time and we need to put in a massive performance this weekend.

“We’re just concentrating on ourselves and everyone is hyping it up and rightly so.

“Do we need to find a response to the Halifax game? Definitely.

“We know we weren’t good enough defensively, but we’ve got to stick together as a team. When we do that, we’re a good side.”

Pitts is out of contract at the end of the season and is among a group of players aiming to impress and earn a new deal at Odsal for next year.

He said: “I’m enjoying my rugby and will try and keep myself in decent form, so we’ll see what happens on the back of that."