LEON Pryce hopes the Bulls have now come through the toughest point of their campaign as the survival fight heads for France.

Toulouse away on Saturday represents one of the most difficult fixtures in the Championship season.

The Bulls, still stuck on minus two points after back-to-back losses over Easter, are banking on the loan cavalry to ride to their rescue.

Shorn of their borrowed players, the youngsters were left battered and bruised by Halifax and Featherstone.

Pryce is keeping his fingers crossed for reinforcements to give them a fairer chance of competing with Sylvain Houles' in-form side.

"It was a very challenging Easter period for us because most of our players have been young lads," said the Odsal skipper.

"We've got so many loanee players in the squad and when their teams call them back as a precaution, it leaves us pretty short on numbers, pretty light and pretty young.

"I didn't really see this coming. I thought that once players came on loan, they were here for quite a while.

"But the way it worked, all the players left at once – and they've all been playing really well as well. We're hoping we can get some back or we're going to be skinny again."

Dane Chisholm remains out of the picture as the wrangle over his position continues, with Sheffield coach Mark Aston stating earlier this week that the Australian is still a registered Eagles player.

The Rugby Football League are understood to have been in talks with both clubs over Chisholm, who the Bulls had "unveiled" as their capture a fortnight ago.

Pryce, who missed the 44-18 loss at Fev, admits the uncertainty of team selection from one game to the next has taken its toll on their form during the first half of the regular season.

"Our results have pretty much been a reflection of some of the players we've lost," he said.

"When we lose Jordan (Lilley), Mik (Oledzki), Kev Larroyer and Daniel Murray, the lads you are bringing in are inexperienced and young.

"If we had a settled team, we could blame ourselves for being inconsistent. But we've got an inconsistent team.

"Size and physique and age does play a big factor, no matter what anybody says. We're probably lacking a bit of experience across the park – there's probably only me and Scotty (Moore).

"Toulouse will be one of the hardest places to go and hopefully we'll have some players back. But that's where we are at. We're working hard and trying our best with what we've got at the moment.

"There are enough games left, we've just got to make sure we get moving quickly again. We came off a good performance against Sheffield and then had two pretty poor ones after that."

For Pryce, keeping the Bulls in the second tier would represent a notable finish to his stellar playing career, with his final season being all about survival.

He said: "That's the only aim. I just want to do whatever I can for us to stay in the Championship.

"I'm never going to be hitting the heights like I did in Super League or when I played here ten years ago. I'm just trying get lads round the field and be passionate for my home-town team and keep us up."