York Knights v Bradford Bulls: Kurt Haggerty hoping to get win needed to watch 'carnage' unfold

The Bulls head into tonight's clash with York Knights at the foot of Super League but know victory would end their fears of finishing bottom with Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers playing each other.

"There are still a couple of permutations," said Haggerty, whose side could mathematically end the campaign as high as 11th.

"We're very much focusing on ourselves and trying to beat York before waiting for everything else. I'm quite glad we play on Thursday because if we get the job done, we can sit back and watch the carnage take place."

Bradford, York and Toulouse Olympique were expected to battle for the wooden spoon following promotion, only to drag established Super League clubs into the fight.

All three sides celebrated wins in the penultimate round.

"It shows that all three teams haven't given up," said Haggerty.

"If you look at Toulouse and what they've done, it's been pretty incredible. York have had some good wins along the way and we've been competitive for a lot of games.

"I think we've shown that we certainly deserve to be in the competition."

York sit 10th after claiming a memorable win over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.

While Bradford have more to play for on the face of it, Mark Applegarth is determined to preserve the Knights' current standing in their final home game.

"It'd be massive," he said. "It's in our hands and is definitely a big motivation for us.

"We want to give our fans something to celebrate going into the off-season. We can't thank our support enough – they've been class regardless of the result.

"But it's not just going to happen. We know we're going to have to be at our best against a very dangerous Bradford team."

York, like Toulouse, have operated on half the central funding of the rest of the competition this season.

Applegarth believes the Knights – now under new ownership – will be better for a challenging maiden Super League campaign.

"It's been an interesting journey on and off the field," he said.

"On the field, it's been exactly what we knew it would be – a tough old slog. There have been some really good highs and some pretty stinging lows.

"Smooth seas don't make skilled sailors so you've got to go through a bit of rough water to find out who you are as a team."