ADRIAN Purtell is confident Bradford will return to winning ways this weekend and has backed Jimmy Lowes to guide the team through their current sticky patch.

The Bulls have won only one of their last six matches during a tough sequence which has seen them exit the Challenge Cup at Sunday's league hosts Dewsbury.

Yet club captain Purtell believes his side will secure a much-needed victory over the Rams to reignite the club's promotion challenge and ease the pressure on Lowes.

The head coach has come under fire from supporters following recent results but Purtell confirmed the players are fully behind him.

The former Canberra and Penrith star said: "Without doubt, Jimmy wears his heart on his sleeve.

"He's very passionate about this club and this group of players, so I've got a lot of time for him and I rate him as a coach.

"Jimmy has put in a lot of effort and the boys are putting in a lot of effort too.

"We've just got to all head in the right direction and I'm sure we will come away with the win this weekend.

"We're training hard this week, as we do every week, but we just haven't always come away with the results unfortunately.

"It's a big week for us, training-wise, and we're focusing all our attention on Dewsbury because it will be a tough game.

"We know that because we went there the other week and they beat us in the Challenge Cup, so the onus is on us to perform on Sunday and get the win."

Despite the recent blip, Purtell stressed the season was still in its infancy and backed the Bulls to re-establish themselves as the leading Championship promotion contenders.

"We've gradually been building as a team and we went through last season without too many hiccups," said 31-year-old Purtell.

"We've had a couple of hiccups early on this time but it's still early in the season and there is plenty of time to get things right.

"We need to turn things around soon and I've got no doubt that we can and we will."

Purtell sustained a groin injury during the 24-24 home draw with Leigh on February 28 and subsequently missed four games. But he was back in the side for last weekend's visit of Sheffield and helped the Bulls to dominate the opening quarter as they went 12-0 up.

The experienced Aussie, by his own admission, then threw a careless pass which allowed the Eagles back into the game – but the skipper reckons he will soon be back to his best.

Purtell said: "We've showed in glimpses of games that we can be a really dominant team and it's just a matter of putting that into a full 80 minutes.

"If we do that, I'm sure we will be getting the results that everybody wants us to.

"I've got to hold my hand up here because we were cruising and everything was going to plan after 20 minutes last week.

"I came up with a vital error which Sheffield intercepted and scored from, so that wasn't good enough, and I'm going to work to ensure I don't make those same kind of mistakes again.

"But we showed that as a team we can build and apply pressure, like we did in that first quarter, because that's what you've got to do to win games of footie at any level.

"It's about playing for field position and completing your sets, which we did for 20 minutes against Sheffield.

"If there was any rust because I missed out for five weeks through injury, then that excuse has gone.

"I did all the training I could have done leading into that game, so I was ready to go and I'm just thankful for having that run-out under my belt.

"I'm sure I'll be ready to perform better this weekend."