Lesley Vainikolo blasted Bradford three points clear of Leeds at the top of Super League as the Bulls recorded an eighth successive victory.

His stunning hat-trick of tries also propelled him to the top of the Super League scoring charts with 19 as the Bulls survived the absence of hamstring victim Paul Deacon to recover from being ten points down and record a 32-20 victory over Hull.

With the Bulls in unstoppable form as the play-offs draw nearer, Vainikolo (pictured), nicknamed the Volcano, has calmly insisted: "We need to take it one match at a time.

"Castleford came in last year and embarrassed us, so we just need to concentrate what we are doing game by game and see what happens on the day." With the New Zealand winger in such hot form - and Karl Pratt back to first-team action against Hull - the Bulls will be confident of maintaining their winning momentum, with Leon Pryce set to return and Robbie Paul also hopeful of a return before the Grand Final.

Vainikolo is acutely aware that the Bulls must maintain their concentration during games and has warned that such lapses could prove fatal.

He said: "Last week at Leeds was different but despite a few errors, we came back. But one day, it will come back to haunt you as you can't make mistakes at this level and get away with it.

"We just need to concentrate on what we are doing. I give credit to Hull - they came here to play. The try they scored at the start of the second half gave us the wake-up call that we needed."

Brian Noble explained Deacon's absence and Pratt's return: "Pratt only starting training this week and our medical staff and Martin Clawson, our conditioner, did a great job in getting his shoulder right.

"Deacs didn't pull his hamstring until yesterday and he was in the team as the other half, so we had to juggle things around a little bit."

l The final derby game of the season against Leeds at Odsal Stadium on Sunday, September 7 will kick off at 6.35pm and will be shown live on Sky Sports.