ETHAN Ryan has declared himself confident of beating the drop as the Bulls gear up for Sunday’s crunch trip to relegation rivals Dewsbury.

Leigh Beattie’s side produced their best performance of the season against Championship leaders Hull KR in the Summer Bash at Blackpool on Saturday.

But a narrow 20-19 loss consigned them to a sixth straight defeat and left them eight points from safety with just eight games of the regular season remaining.

Dewsbury lie six points and one place above Bradford after beating Batley on day two of the Summer Bash and this weekend’s clash has take on huge significance.

Yet Ryan is confident his side can defy the odds and avoid a disastrous relegation to League One.

The homegrown winger, whose late try against Hull KR set up a tense finish at Bloomfield Road, said: “We had a really good week in training and we knew that beating Hull KR was a real possibility.

“We looked at them on video and we knew what they were going to do, so we thought we’d target what would win us the game.

“We all stuck together and that was easily our best performance of the year.

“It goes to show what we can achieve this year and if we put in that kind of performance week in and week out, I think we will stay up easily.

“Hull KR are a really physical side and they come down the middle a lot, so we worked hard on tightening things up and not letting them go through us like we did in the first game of the season.

“We reacted well to what we knew they would do and it made for a really good game.

“Unfortunately we just didn’t have enough to get the win.

“It’s been tough this season because no-one likes losing and the pressure is on because you know you’ve got to get all these wins to stay up.

“But this was a real step in the right direction and it gives us confidence now for the rest of the year.”

The Bulls are awaiting the prognosis on Dane Chisholm’s knee injury which overshadowed his sparkling display against Hull KR on his first appearance since rejoining Bradford.

Ryan said: “You look at what he did on Saturday and it shows the ability he’s got.

“He can win you a game on his own with a try or a special play in the blink of an eye.

“To have Chizzy back is a massive boost to the club going into the back end of the season as we battle to stay up.”

Ryan, meanwhile, is currently assessing his options for next year after catching the eye of rival clubs in the past couple of seasons.

He said: “I’m currently out of contract at the end of the season but I’m trying not to let that get in my head too much.

“I just want to focus on trying to keep Bradford in the Championship and push on from there.”