Whitehaven coach James Coyle was looking to accentuate the positives after his side started the Championship Shield with a home defeat against Bradford Bulls.

The 46-18 defeat kept Haven bottom of the table and now just six games in which to save their second tier status.

“It was more about the performance against a full-time team, but it is always disappointing to lose.

“But I found enough positives to move us forward. The big thing is we are getting players back so it was good to get them some game time.

“People like Carl Forster, Louis Jouffret and Chris Taylor have had time out so it’s important to have them playing again, and hopefully we have the likes of Jessi Joe Parker and Ed Chamberlain to add as well.

“There were spells in the game where I thought we did well and those are positive signs we can build-on,” said Coyle.

But really Whitehaven were undone by the start they made to the game, conceding four tries in the first 17 minutes which threatened to sink them without trace.

“We seemed overawed by them in that opening spell and weren’t able to cope. But once we realised that perhaps they weren’t as good as we had thought we started to have a bit of joy.

“Those two tries got us back into the game and it was a real blow when they scored again right on the hooter,” said Coyle.

Whitehaven will resume their Shield programme at Sheffield on Sunday, but Oldham’s 30-16 win over Workington has put both Cumbrian clubs deeper in the mire.

They are now four points behind Swinton, who are really struggling for a win at the moment, and five behind Oldham.

“If I’m honest Bradford wasn’t a game that had been marked down as one we could target to win. But now that’s out of the way we have to really focus on doing our very best to win the six that are left.

“The fact that we are getting players back is going to be another plus for us and I’m sure we can give it a good go,” he said.

Haven’s next opponents Sheffield were surprising winners at Halifax yesterday to suggest they are coming in to form at the right time and could be one of the strongest teams in the Shield.