LEON Pryce has heralded the Bulls' young guns – but insists any defeat should never be celebrated.

Bradford kicked off their Kingstone Press Championship campaign with a 54-24 loss at promotion-chasing Hull KR on Sunday.

But the manner of that defeat – with one of the youngest Bulls teams in memory running in four tries – has left many supporters optimistic about the future.

Skipper Pryce was similarly impressed by the 'Baby Bulls' but insists victories are all that matter now as the Odsal outfit battle against their 12-point deduction and the drop to League One.

"I was really proud of the effort from the boys," Pryce told the Telegraph & Argus. "Everybody gave everything they had.

"At the end of the day we lost, which you can never celebrate, but the manner we lost in was encouraging and at least we dug in.

"We're a very young team and at times it was men against boys – but I think we can be very proud of the effort and overall performance.

"I thought Jordan Lilley was particularly outstanding and the other boys on loan from Leeds did really well. That was particularly impressive after just two days' of training with the squad.

"I wasn't surprised by the young lads' display one bit, and it was good to see them mixing it out there, but at the end of the day we lost by 30 points. We can't be happy at losing by that margin to anyone.

"I was proud of everyone in our squad but we've still got to be realistic – we lost heavily and we've got to put that right."

At 35, former Great Britain international Pryce is one of the few older heads in the Bulls squad.

He believes an injection of experience in key areas could make all the difference to the club's Championship survival hopes – and provide the younger lads with some much-needed support ahead of Sunday's visit of Rochdale.

"Hull KR have basically recruited a Super League team and they're going to be pushing for promotion this season and battling with the Super League teams at the end of the year, without a doubt," he said.

"So it was always going to be a tough start, especially given the circumstances surrounding our club ahead of the season. But given our lack of preparation in the off-season, I don't think we did too bad.

"The biggest lesson we can take from that game is that we need some experience. Once we get that we'll be okay, provided we keep showing the same commitment and effort."