Francis Cummins admits the Bulls will be out to avenge their Challenge Cup defeat at London Broncos when Tony Rea’s men visit the Provident Stadium on Sunday.

In what was arguably their lowest point of the season, the Bulls succumbed to a miserable 25-16 fifth-round exit at the Twickenham Stoop on May 10.

Had Cummins’ men emerged victorious, they would have played Sheffield Eagles in the quarter-finals, giving them a major opportunity to progress to the latter stages of the competition.

Cummins is now keen to set the record straight against a Broncos outfit whose Super League future is shrouded in uncertainty, with millionaire owner David Hughes apparently ready to walk away from the club.

Cummins said: “Is there a feeling of payback? Yes, maybe a little bit because we didn’t play well at all in that cup game.

“You look back and think what could have happened had we won.

“You would probably say we would be up against a lesser club in the next round and would therefore have had more of a chance of getting to a major final.

“But I don’t carry it around with me and this weekend is more about how we perform. We need to string 80 minutes together.”

Heath L’Estrange, John Bateman, Adam Sidlow and Oliver Roberts will not play again this season as they recover from injuries. Cummins is also likely to be without Adrian Purtell and Matty Blythe through injury as the Bulls bid to finish the season on a high.

Their play-off hopes were dashed by the recent defeat at Castleford but Cummins said: “There are more important things than finishing in the top eight and one of them is personal pride.

“We need to look at ourselves as a group and be able to realise at the end of the season that we couldn’t have worked any harder.

“We owe a bit to the fans because the hardcore have been tremendous but it’s about what we do for each other.

“We can’t give up on each other and we have to do our best in our final two assignments.”

Although Roberts is sidelined with a shoulder injury, Cummins may be tempted to hand further opportunities to fellow rookies Sam Wood and Alex Mellor.

The Bulls boss added: “You could see some of those younger guys but Ollie will miss the rest of the season.

“That will give him a chance to rest and get a very good pre-season under his belt and then really develop for next season.”