IT will be an unusual experience for Ben Evans this Sunday, as his current club goes up against his future employers.

Evans has signed a two-year deal with Barrow from 2023, but his loyalties lie with Bradford this weekend.

The Bulls prop knows just how huge Sunday's game is too, as a defeat to the sixth-placed Cumbrians realistically rules Mark Dunning's side out of the Championship play-off race,

Talking about how he will approach the encounter, Evans said: "It is just another match in one sense, but I want to have a good game for two reasons.

"I want to play well and get Bradford the win, but I also want to show Barrow what they're getting and put myself out there."

Asked why he decided to leave Bulls, given the seemingly tight-knit nature of the squad and the fact his twin brother Rhys plays for the club too, Evans said: "Barrow came in with an early deal and the move just fitted around work and my family better.

"There's a bit more travel involved, but their training times and days were just a better fit for me.

"They're a good club too, who are doing well, so when they offered me the security of a two-year deal, it was hard to say no."

Evans has Bulls to concentrate on for now, and he said: "Each game now is a must-win.

"But given where us and Barrow are in the table (Bulls are seven points behind) we need to win this one to keep our play-off chances alive.

"It's a big game, but the boys have put in hard work in training, we just need to replicate that on the field."

Whatever Bulls have been doing in practice, it didn't work against Newcastle or London Broncos in their last two encounters, with the former performance particularly atrocious.

Evans said: "It wasn't a good start against Newcastle, and London was an arm-wrestle, but we needed more game-smarts in both.

"The end of London's sets last weekend for example, they always had good field position, where we didn't.

"Brian Noble has had an influence since he came in though, and I'm sure it'll be a good game between ourselves and Barrow."

Even before the Newcastle and London defeats, Bulls were doing worse than last year, when they finished fifth.

Asked why they had gone backwards, Evans admitted: "We underachieved last year really, because we should have come third but lost our last two games when we shouldn't have.

"This year has been a mixed bag, because we've had some really good performances, like Leigh (at home in the Challenge Cup) and Featherstone (at home in the league), but then some terrible ones.

"We've had that change with John (Kear) leaving and Dunno taking over, but I honestly can't put my finger on why we've regressed. If we all could, it wouldn't be happening."

Evans might have some more responsibility at prop this weekend, with Jordan Baldwinson out injured and Dan Fleming having joined Featherstone.

Jacob Gannon has come in on loan from Warrington at least, and Evans said: "The onus is on us props as it is hard losing good players like Jordan and Dan.

"But we've got to just worry about ourselves and doing our individual jobs.

"We still have enough middles, we're not short, and hopefully it comes together and we can produce a performance that helps us get a win this weekend."