Mick Potter insists motivation should not be a problem, even though the Bulls’ season is effectively over.

Defeat to Hull KR made play-off qualification virtually impossible but Potter still expects a response at Wigan on Friday.

The Bradford boss was quick to remind his players they are paid to do a job.

“They’ll want to be motivated and they need to be motivated because this is what they do,” he said.

“It’s tough going to Wigan to win a match. They’ve been the most consistent team all season and there’s no harder challenge than to beat them. We’ll do our best.”

Potter was left fuming by an inept second-half display against Hull KR, labelling his side’s last-tackle plays as “pathetic”.

When the pressure has been on, the Bulls have crumbled, losing four of their last five games – three of them after giving up a half-time lead.

Sunday was the worst of the lot, Rovers scoring 28 unanswered points after the break.

“You look at the first half and we were very good,” said Potter.

“We had potential advantage in that second half with the wind behind us and we didn’t use it. Our last plays were just pathetic.

“There were a couple of opportunities to score when we didn’t quite get there.

“Unfortunately, that’s where we are at the moment – we can’t capitalise on the good things we do.

“We couldn’t make the other team pay the full price and then, on the flip side, they made us pay in the second half.

“We don’t kick the ball out for a penalty kick and then they score a try on the next set of six. It was ridiculous.”

Meanwhile, Potter did his best to deflect attention from an incident after the final whistle when he was involved in a heated exchange with a supporter who had targeted him for abuse.

He said: “The fans are entitled to express their feelings and they’re as disappointed as we are. That’s the nature of the game, you cop the good with the bad.”