SAINTS boss Keiron Cunningham is not panicking after Saturday’s opening Super 8s loss in France, but has nevertheless vowed to ring the changes after some tired individual performances.

Some players will be dropped for Friday’s home clash against Hull – a game Saints need to win to keep up the pressure on the top two Leeds and Wigan.

And coach Cunningham has warned under-performing players who do not up their game “won’t be at the club going forward”.

Although Saints are still well placed in third, Saturday’s loss against a 12-man Dragons came as a bitter disappointment on the back of the previous week’s cup exit.

Having already dropped Jordan Turner for the trip to Perpignan, Cunningham re-iterated his view that reputation alone will not guarantee places going forward into the crunch Super 8 games to come.

Cunningham said: “Some of those middles have not missed a game all year and maybe need a freshen up and maybe a kick up the backside won’t do anyone any harm.

“There will be a couple of people who won’t play this week.

“There are a few who can hold their heads up and be proud; Flash (Mark Flanagan), Andre (Savelio), Greg (Richards) and Luke Thompson were great and Big Al was phenomenal.

“Josh Jones and Percy had good games, too.

“There were some positives, but a few people who really let the club down and more so let their teammates down.

“They are a good group of players who really on each other a lot.

“There were definitely a few who could not look their teammates in the eye after that.”

But this decision to leave out Turner last week showed he was not going to simply name his first choice 17 on the basis of rank order.

“Jordan had hit a bit of a sticky patch and needed freshening up a little bit.

“He was struggling and his confidence was not great on that left edge and that was hurting us.

“It was exposing Walshy a bit more than I would like.

“We put Jonesy over there and that firmed us up and he looked good,” he said.

Given the depth of the squad, and the needs of the team, simply dropping players is not a strategy he can apply uniformly across the board.

Without naming names, he hammered out this warning: “It is my job as a coach to get my so-called best players going really well.

“The ones who are replaceable will be replaced. And if they continue to not perform, they won’t be at the club going forward.

“That is the way rugby league work and the way I have got to coach this team.

“It is all right being everyone’s friend when the going is good, but my heart and soul is St Helens rugby club.

“I would be doing myself, family and Eamonn (McManus), Mike Coleman and the fans an injustice if I continue to run with people who are just not as committed as they should be for the cause.”

Meanwhile there looks to be good news on the horizon, with wing Tommy Makinson back training with the first team since breaking his leg against Salford in June.

Cunningham said: “He has one more week of little goals that he has to pass – and if he passes everything he should play against Huddersfield.

“Although Matty Dawson has done a great job, Tommy is an international winger and was in the top two wingers in the comp before he got his injury. When you have international standard players not playing you miss them.”

Dawson received plenty of flak for his failure to execute a gilt-edged scoring chance on Saturday when he failed to take the ball with him.

“That (play) was the tip of the iceberg and there was lot more stuff underneath when we broke it down for the team, which was uncharacteristic for the standards we set at this club.

“Matty will take criticism for that of it because he dropped the ball in the corner – and so he should because he is a winger who gets paid to score tries.

“ Some of these wingers get obsessed with doing hand-stands and thinking it is the best try of the season.

“If they slide in at the corner, like they used to do in 1952, you just go and score your try.”