SAINTS coach Nathan Brown reflected on last Sunday’s disappointment and looked ahead to Friday’s visit of Huddersfield, in conversation with the Star’s Mike Critchley.

MC: Sunday was disappointing. Is it usually a tell tale sign when you see opposition ball carriers not being put on the floor?

NB: You are always in trouble if the opposition are standing in the tackles all game and that is a great indication.

MC: Is it your job to fix all those things that went wrong or is there a shared burden?

NB: It is all of us. I never just blame players and I think collectively the coaching staff take their fair share. The head coach is there for a reason and he takes his share of responsibility along with the other coaches.

The playing group collectively, too. When you are winning we all take the accolades together and likewise when we lose we all have to work out what we can do better.

We have had quite a productive week and we are addressing a number of things.

We have got to try and educate the players into what is required to beat those big sides.

Obviously your Wellos, Wilkos and Robeses have been there and done it on the big occasions - and their experience, plus that of Keiron, is important.

It should also be realised that it is a privilege to be wearing this St Helens jersey.

That education is a process and we have a lot of younger players in an evolving squad.

We are second on the ladder, so there are a lot of good things happening and lot of players doing some good stuff.

But it is certain times against certain teams where we need to knuckle down.

MC: What is the state of play with injuries to Alex Walmsley and Jonny Lomax?

NB: Jonny has a bit of a knee problem and we are not expecting it to be long term.

Alex has hurt his hamstring, we are not sure how long he will be out for, but not expecting him to miss a huge number of games.

MC: The squad has become depleted with injury since the start of the season?

NB: This week we play Huddersfield and although we will have some players missing, it will be about the commitment and effort those who do play put in.

MC: Are you feeling under pressure after losing this run of big games?

 NB: The thing with my job is how I can help the senior players help educate the younger ones. That takes a bit of a process. I don’t like losing the big games, but that is part of where we are at. We are all under pressure, whether you are aside at the bottom fighting relegation or a club like us that are at the top but have not won a trophy in a period of time.

We are a better team than last year so from a point of view of improving, that is the key for me. We have improved on last season but we need to continue our improvement.