Challenge Cup misery has done nothing to dent the Bulls hopes of a final appearance this season.

Skipper Andy Lynch found Sunday’s defeat against Warrington hard to take but the performance only reaffirmed his belief the current side can compete for silverware.

Battling bravely against injuries to key players, Bradford came within a whisker of their first semi-final appearance in three years and showed the kind of fighting qualities needed for a play-off push.

With Wembley now off the agenda, Old Trafford is top of Lynch’s list of priorities.

He said: “We showed courage and fight and I thought in patches we were all over them. But they got us on the back foot and they were hard to handle.

“From a spectator’s point of view, it was probably a great game to watch. I’m just gutted really and everyone else is the same.

“We’ve got to get right back on it this week. We’ve got Huddersfield at home and we’ve got to look to put our wrongs right.

“We’ve got one focus now and that’s to keep improving in Super League and come October be contenders for that Grand Final.

“If we get in that top eight, anyone’s capable of beating anyone. It becomes anyone’s game.”

The injuries to Matt Orford, Brett Kearney and Jamie Langley have been much talked about but few have mentioned the monumental efforts of Lynch to play through the pain barrier.

The workhorse prop has suffered with knee problems throughout the campaign and his injury was a major reason why he missed out on national-team selection when Steve McNamara named his first squad as England boss this week.

“It’s been a great team effort recently because we’ve had a lot of players who can’t train,” said Lynch.

“It’s great credit to our medical team and conditioning staff. Their work has paid off for us.

“We do put in the hard work but we also need the rest to recover. Hopefully that puts us in the right stead for Super League now.”