Rikki Sheriffe has banished any thoughts about his long-term future to focus on the Bulls’ immediate fortunes.

The powerful winger is out of contract at the end of this season but will not fret over a new deal as long as there are more pressing matters to deal with.

Bradford head to Castleford on Sunday looking to end a five-game losing run and continue on the path towards the Super League play-offs.

Following a difficult month, Sheriffe knows he too has plenty to prove entering the business end of the season.

He said: “If you let thoughts of new contracts get into your head, it’s all you end up thinking about.

“It’s no good for performances and no good for the team. It’s like in any job, you’ve got to perform if you want to reap the rewards, so that’s the priority.

“The pinnacle is getting into the play-offs and reaching the Grand Final and contract issues always come second.

“If I put in good performances and help the team win then everything else will sort itself out.”

Sheriffe admits the Bulls’ recent injury crisis has made matters tough.

Constant changes to the team mean he has played outside a different centre in each of the past three games, disrupting the partnership he had begun to forge with Michael Platt.

Despite the uncertainty, Sheriffe still believes the back-line can do a lot more to help results pick up.

He said: “You trust your inside man and it is difficult when he’s changing week in, week out. But when you get down you just have to pick yourself up.

“I know my role and what I should be doing so there’s no excuses. There shouldn’t be any problems if I’m doing my job.

“As a winger, you want to score tries and you want the ball all the time. That chance will come again but you need to do the little things right if it’s going to.

“The back three need to do all they can to help the team out. If we’re not making yards or catching the ball on the full, then we’re not doing our bit.

“The team doesn’t work if everyone doesn’t help each other out.”

But Sheriffe is certain a change in attitude and belief, highlighted during last week’s defeat to high-flying Warrington, will lead to a turnaround in fortunes.

He said: “There were a lot of positives to take out of the Warrington game. To score 28 points was good and the way we scored them was even better.

“But we know we still need to get better. There was a period when we were beating teams comfortably and controlling games so there’s no reason we can’t do that again.

“We’re getting players back and we’ve got nine games to go. We’re heading in the right direction and we want to win but we also want to win in the best possible way.”