SAINTS boss Keiron Cunningham described his team's win at Hull as "brilliant" and singled out Josh Jones, who made a crucial try saving tackle in the second half, for special praise.

Saints won 17-10 with a try in each half, but they had to withstand plent of Hull pressure.

Cunningham said: "It was brilliant with the number of kids we had out on the field.

"Matty Fleming and Dougie Charnock had super games and Josh Jones was outstanding.

"He played for the full 80 and was superb. He had gone backwards a little and struggled for a spot but has taken his chance with open arms and has been outstanding.

"Our starts haven't been great over recent weeks and have been something we have wanted to work on. We turned up at the ground about five minutes before warm up because of traffic. It's not ideal being on a bus for three-and-a-half hours.

"We could have made excuses but we went on the field and did the job. We played well last week and I think we are building into something really good.

"Next week we will have Jon Wilkin back and maybe Mark Percival and we're all looking forward to Warrington now."

There was praise for the big men, who toiled relentlessly.

" I thought our middle was outstanding. Andre, Mose and big Al carried it really well and Greg and Kyle carted it up all day. They kept turning up for each other and that is genuine team spirit and resolve.

"We scored two nice tries too. For Tommy Makinson to catch the ball and score - there isn't many in the comp who can do that and it is a game-changer. That is why he is around the England squad.

"Our halves did well too. Travis Burns' game management was excellent. His finish to a lot of sets was really good. Dougie played well too but picked up a hand injury we will assess during the week," he said.