GEOFF Toovey is preparing for his first taste of the infamous Batley slope in the Bulls' uphill task for Championship survival.

Tomorrow's trip to Mount Pleasant is the penultimate game of the regular season with his side still ten points adrift of second-bottom Swinton, who visit Odsal next week.

The odds remain steeped against the Bulls but Toovey's options will be boosted by the return of skipper Scott Moore from suspension.

Bradford beat the Bulldogs at the start of the season but Matt Diskin's men are running into form with four wins out of five.

Toovey said: "Our problem all year has been putting some consistency together. But we've had a team that changes quite often, particularly in the halves and the backs.

"We have to find that if we're going to have any chance of beating Batley, who are a very consistent side.

"We'll have the same halves, which is a positive, and Scott Moore coming back gives us a bit of seniority and stability in the pack.

"Young Damian Sironen will be better for his one game under his belt. I thought he had a great game last week.

"We are getting some playing every week and hopefully that will help with us being consistent."

Ethan Ryan and Ashley Gibson are out of the picture after their season-ending injuries in the first half of the Hull KR game.

Losing two outside backs so early against the leaders killed Toovey's plans, after he had stocked the bench with forwards because of the heat.

The coach admitted: "It did put us in a bit of a quandary of who would play where. But I thought the players we put out there did a good job in the back line.

"Batley have a very settled side with a lot of senior players. They had a good winning formula year, finishing near the top, and they've continued that theme.

"They graft away, a bit like ourselves, so I don't see it being a high-scoring game. We're hopeful that maybe some of our youth and experience will set us well for a win at the back end."

Toovey added: "I've heard about the slope and it's something that will be a good experience for myself.

"The players know about it, so there are no dramas there, but it's strange that we can't find a field that's a bit more even in this day and age."

Moore's return will ease the burden on Sam Hallas, who had skippered the team during his enforced absence.

Toovey was thrilled to see the 20-year-old tied down to the club until the end of 2019 and said: "Sam's been great for us for the last month or more.

"He only made 30 or so tackles last week, which was disappointing for him because he's been averaging 60. But he's been a real stabilising influence and calm head out on the field.

"He's been playing really great football and I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Sam possibly captaining the side in the future."

Toovey is targeting back-to-back victories to bring the curtain down on a challenging league programme and give the Bulls a sniff of a chance for the Eights.

He said: "It's pretty important for us to try and win the next two games before we go into that last stage of the competition. It would give us a bit of confidence.

"We've been very patchy this year. We've played some good football and lost. We seem to rise up to the more fancied teams and go better when we're the underdog.

"But when we're favourites to win a match, we tend to play poorly. A good side has that consistency and we need that at this stage."