Harlequins coach Brian McDermott admitted relief after his side finally got their engage Super League play-off bid back on track after six straight defeats.

The London side, fourth in June, had slipped out of the top eight as a result of their dreadful run but gained a foothold back in the play-off zone with victory at Bradford.

Two tries from David Howell in the final 15 minutes settled a tight game 22-14 in their favour after the Bulls had taken a 14-10 lead at the Grattan Stadium.

When asked if he was relieved, McDermott said: "Yes, and not just because we had lost the last six.

"It was a tight game and that was one you would have been relived to win anyway, and not just because of the last six weeks."

McDermott claimed he never doubted his players' quality throughout their losing streak, which included heavy losses to Leeds, Wigan, Catalans Dragons and St Helens.

"It has been a bit of an odd review in the last six weeks," he said. "We haven't been too down on what we have been producing.

"I have found it hard to stand in front of the players and say, 'You've done this wrong, that wrong and you're not up to it'.

"I couldn't do that because it would have been a lie.

"But there were things we haven't been doing well and we've been missing some men.

"This keeps things rolling a little bit but we have still got five games to go."

McDermott praised the performance of Howell in his first match back after a three-game ban for a high tackle on Wigan's Sam Tomkins.

"He felt like he had let people down after what he did against Wigan," he said. "I suppose I was holding him back.

"I told him not to go too crazy out there because he has been chomping at the bit. He had a big influence for us."

Bradford twice led after an early Semi Tadulala effort and later tries from Paul Sykes and Chris Nero. Matt Gafa and Ryan Esders also got the scoresheet for Quins while Danny Orr kicked three goals.

Bulls coach Steve McNamara said: "I'm disappointed we haven't got the result.

"I thought it was a tough game. Both teams fought very hard but there wasn't a great deal created by either side.

"Once we got ourselves in front we were probably in a position where we could push on with it but we did not quite manage to do that."

The Bulls are now seven points outside the play-offs with just five games remaining.

McNamara added: "That is way out of our control now. All we can do is stay mentally strong as a group, stay together right until the end and try win our remaining five games."