SAINTS are in something of a hole.

Last Saturday’s dreadful performance in the Challenge Cup, combined with a precarious Super League position, leaves the season hanging in the balance.

But with confidence down in their boots, the coaching team are charged with trying to lift them ahead of Saturday’s high-profile Magic tussle against Hull FC.

Joint interim boss Sean Long said work has already been done to try and fix things up.

Long said: “We had a video session on Monday and spoke about a few things we need to get better at.

“We are just disappointed with the performance that we put in and we are gutted that we are out of the Challenge Cup.

“We are especially disappointed for the fans who paid good money to travel over to Cas to see our worst performance of the season.

“We are really disappointed. The good thing about rugby league is you can put it right five or six days later.

“We had a good chat and have done some ball work today and all the boys seem more upbeat.

“We have got them turning up to training and enjoying it a bit more and that is all you can do.

“They are responding really well to the session.”

Confidence was visibly low on Saturday - and that could be seen as soon as they faced some adversity.

“We are rattled we were in a downward spiral because things are not going great and it becomes a massive vicious circle.

“We have got to believe in ourselves a bit more.

“We turned up for training for skill drills and made it a bit more competitive and the boys enjoyed.

“We just need a few good wins because confidence breeds confidence.

“You start getting belief and winning games.

“We need to get the small things right – and if needs be – go back to basics and strip it right back rather than over complicate things.

“Cas are running the points in at home – averaging 50 points a game – and we knew we would be up against it but should have played better.

“It was our worst performance of the year. We need to fix a lot of things up.

“We can help the players out with extra skill sessions, getting them in on their day off and making sure our skills are on the money.

“Sometimes though if you focus too much on errors they can go into their shells and stop playing.

“This week we have said, we are going to make a few of errors – that is granted, but what do we do next?

“It is just a sticky patch,” Long said.