SAINTS boss Keiron Cunningham reviews Easter and looks ahead to Sunday’s trip to Huddersfield, in conversation with the Star’s senior sports writer Mike Critchley.

MC: What is your assessment of the way the Easter weekend unfolded?

KC: The boys did really well against Wigan, but then we just looked like a really tired side against Hull. It was tough, and you could see how the energy levels were down.

If you look how Wigan got burned at Salford you can see that Good Friday took a lot out of both teams.

It would have been nice to get two points, but we just move on.

We created opportunities and should have stuck to the plan a little bit better instead of trying to manufacture things that were not working for us.

The players understand that – when you back up on Monday from Friday you have got to do the right things.

Our D was not good and our ruck D was not good and we played like a tired team. It would have great to sneak the win, just to get another two points.

The boys are bitterly stinging from losing three on the bounce, but we will get a response on Sunday.

MC: People have constantly criticised you and your predecessor for preferring Wilkin over Lance Hohaia in the halves - when covering for injuries.

Did the weekend show how much the team missed Wilkin’s steady hand in the absence of the first choice halves?

KC: People have been saying Lance is our only out-and-out half. Lance plays really well when he plays with another genuine half and does not have the main responsibility.

Lance is a great fill-in player who gives you everything and I love working with him.

He is a great little nine and gives you his best wherever he plays. But you need a genuine six and seven to direct your team.

JT (Jordan Turner) did a great job and is a good leader, but to get Burns and Wilkin, and especially Walsh, if he returns, would be a massive lift for us on Sunday.

MC: It seems harsh six wins from six, has turned into three losses from three, coinciding with the loss of some key personnel.

KC: We have lost eight or nine members of our starting line up. If any team lost that many players they, too, would be in a bit of trouble.

We are not far off, but I’d imagine that we are just going to improve again once those good players drop back in.

I am not concerned about where the team is headed.

MC: Monday’s game was flat – on and off the pitch – has Easter’s double header run its course?

KC: I understand financially that it is good for the clubs. But look at it this way.

We hear talk in the game about player welfare and yet they are blind to the effects of the Easter weekend.

The people that are trying to reduce subs don’t realise that players are at their most vulnerable when they are fatigued. To reduce subs you will put players under fatigue for a long period of time.

It is the same with the Easter weekend with a three-day turnaround.

I would not like to see the stats for injuries from the Easter Monday or the following weekend.

We are fortunate that we are playing Sunday. It is horrendous for the teams that have to do Friday-Monday-Friday.

MC: It was particularly harsh for big fellas like Kyle Amor and Alex Walmsley who gave you everything on Friday at Wigan and had to back up?

KC: It was always going to be a massive ask – and then to lose Joe and then Wello and have to shuffle the team around. But you have to deal with that, not sulk about it.

We used up our energy levels on Friday and the boys have got time to recoup their energy levels this week – and combined with getting some key players back we will go out and give it a shot.

MC: Huddersfield pasted Warrington and then have lost a couple in a row over Easter.

It is still going to be a tough game though?

KC: Giants are a good, well coached side, who have had a few injuries themselves if not to their key players.

It will be an interesting game and it is always a tough battle there we had the Challenge Cup game there last year, when we won by a point and then we were pipped by the post in the league last September when we had 12 men.

We are looking forward to the challenge – and both teams are looking to get back on the horse.

It would be nice to get some of those fans across the Pennines to cheer them on.

MC: They have lost Brett Ferres and Joe Wardle, but there is still plenty of threat in their side – not least in the halves?

KC: Any team with Danny Brough in is a dangerous team.

He controls the team well, just like what Luke and Travis do for us.

Brough always gets them on the front foot so if we can keep him under wraps a little bit then that will go a long way into winning the game.