Paul Deacon says it will be “criminal” if the Bulls don’t seize their surprise shot at play-off glory.

The skipper leads his side out for their biggest match of the season tonight, knowing they have to win at Hull FC.

If St Helens also prove victorious over Catalans Dragons, Bradford – strugglers all season – will amazingly replace the French side in the top eight.

A stunning four-match winning run and a string of results going in their favour has handed Bulls a real reprieve right at the death.

Now Deacon admits: “We have been given a lifeline. It’d be a damn shame if we didn’t take that opportunity that’s been put in front of us. It would be criminal.”

The Bulls seemed certain to miss out on the play-offs for the first time after last month’s home defeat against Harlequins left them languishing in 12th place.

But they have turned it around in style after being unshackled by boss Steve McNamara.

The four-times champions could now stun Super League and complete a remarkable turnaround by claiming their traditional spot in the end-of-season finale.

“It is unexpected,” said Deacon, 30. “Everyone would be lying if they said we thought we would be in this position four games ago. Personally, when we lost to Harlequins, I thought something miraculous would have to happen. It has.

“We needed to win all of our games – which we thought we could do – but also results had to go for us elsewhere.

“That’s happened, but as everyone knows, it’s not all down to us now. We have to do our job at Hull and hopefully Saints can do a job for us too.”

Injury-ravaged Catalans are on a shocking losing run and are massive favourites to go down at St Helens, with the hosts still having an outside chance of finishing as Minor Premiers.

Hull FC, meanwhile, have only won twice in their last eight fixtures and have endured their own miserable campaign.

They have slumped into 12th but Deacon, one of only two surviving members of the Bulls side that won the 2005 Grand Final, concedes their opponents will want to round off with a flourish.

“For every team in the comp, the last home game is a big fixture,” said the scrum-half.

“They want to go out on winning note to please their fans if nothing else but also, when players are leaving the club, they want to gout on a high too.

“We know it will be a tough challenge. I think Hull are in a surprising position; on their day, they are a much better team than the league shows. But it’s an exciting challenge for us.

“We’ve always known we’ve had potential to be a good team and have proven that in the last four games.

“Hopefully we can do it again tonight.

“We’ve got a lot to play for and there’s a good feeling around the camp – a feeling there’s an opportunity to do something quite special.”

The Bulls will look to their leader to inspire them to victory and his battle with former Great Britain rival Richard Horne could be a key contest at the KC Stadium.

Meanwhile, McNamara may decide to bring Ben Jeffries back as Deacon’s half-back partner tonight.

He returned last week following foot surgery, coming off the bench, but hasn’t started with Deacon since the loss at Hull KR back in July.