BRANDON Pickersgill psyched himself up for tomorrow’s battle with Sheffield and admitted: “This is the biggest game so far for us.”

Both teams head into the tea-time clash at the Tetley’s Stadium on two points after registering their first wins of the season last weekend.

While the Bulls produced a first-half blitz to see off Oldham, Sheffield were making history as the first Championship club to succeed via the golden point in an extra-time success at Batley.

Pickersgill now expects a fierce contest between two sides both eyeing a real crack at the play-offs this season.

The Bulls full back said: “It will be a real battle. They are similar to us in the league and had a good result on Sunday, a bit like we did, so it will be a big game.

“We know how good they are from when they turned us over last year so it’s going to be tough.

“We both won our last game and we’re finding a bit of form. The combinations are coming together.

“The first half against Oldham was very good but we were a bit sloppy in the second.

“They beat Batley by a drop goal so they will be full of confidence as we are.

“But hopefully we can get the two points and carry our run going.”

Like the Bulls, Sheffield were also handed a daunting start with the fixture list. They faced current pace-setters Leigh and Toulouse in their opening three games.

The Bulls kicked off with London and Featherstone and ran both close. But Pickersgill knows these are the games where they really need to pick up points.

“The first two games were free hits,” he added. “They were quite tough but you can play well in them.

“But when expectation is on us, it’s a different ball game.

“This is probably the biggest game of the year so far and one we need to be winning. You need to beat these teams.

“We missed out by a point (on the play-offs) last year. If we’d beat Sheffield away we would have got it.

“These games are all must-win because those dropped points could be vital by the end of the season.”

Pickersgill scored one of the four first-half tries in the Bulls’ win at Bower Fold to go with his score against Featherstone. He is happy to have hit the ground running.

He said: “I’ve started the year pretty well. I had a good pre-season and when the season came round, I was ready to go.

“It is always good to score tries and I am just trying to develop my game to be the best I can be.”

John Kear has gone on record with his praise for Pickersgill’s defensive capabilities - as demonstrated with two try-saving tackles in the London game - and the 22-year-old credits a lot of that to the understanding built up within the Bulls ranks.

“We know the ins and outs of each other,” he added. “I’ve played with Jordan Lilley since I was eight and I know what he’s going to do before he does sometimes.

“I’ve played with (Rowan) Milnes and Oakesy (Ross Oakes) over the last few years, the combinations are there and we all work together.

“It is good when it comes together and we just need to do it more often.

“Coming in this year I was probably the oldest full back at the club. I need to make my shirt my own and I have a big job in terms of being a leader.

“Hopefully I am growing into the role.”