ETHAN Ryan scored his 20th try of the season against in the 62-12 won at Coventry Bears, but he felt there were issues with the performance.

The talented winger said: "There were definitely things to improve on, individually and as a team.

"It was quite sloppy and the first half was way off where we want to be. We turned it around a bit in the second half but even so it was stupid errors that we were making.

"It didn't feel like a good team performance."

Elliot Minchella was one player who stood out though, scoring a fine treble of tries for Bulls after being made temporary captain in Lee Smith's absence.

Ryan set Minchella up for his hat-trick effort and he admitted that it was a pleasure to play alongside the loose forward, saying: "He's absolutely massive for us.

"He can score from anywhere on the field and his push and his work ethic are phenomenal. That's probably why John made him our captain.

"When you make a break, you know he's going to be there supporting you and it was nice to tip inside to him for his hat-trick to finish the game off."

It is a huge month ahead for Bulls, as they host a strong Newcastle Thunder outfit on Friday, followed by games against the two sides directly below them in the table, York and Hunslet.

The Betfred League One picture should look much clearer after those fixtures, and Bulls will be hoping to pick up maximum points.

Ryan accepts that it is going to be difficult, but he knows what is required and he said: "We've got three very tough games ahead and it's going to be hard for us.

"We need to knuckle down in training and get these bad habits out of our system. We need to push on for these next few games.

"We've got Newcastle coming up on Friday, which is massive for us, but it's only a short turnaround, so we need to build well this week in training."