SAINTS forward Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook believes a win over Wigan would underline the team'sturnaround in fortunes ahead of the knockout semi-final - but he has stressed that they have to take their defensive efforts up a notch.

Saints play Wigan at Langtree Park on Friday night with local bragging rights and the chance to progress up the table should Huddersfield slip.

But the win at Castleford last week has taken a lot of the pressure off, with qualification for the top four putting them 80 minutes from Old Trafford.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook said: "We have trained well this week and you can tell we are leading up to a big game.

"It should be a good match and hopefully we can come away with the points and move up the ladder.

"It would be good for morale if we could get a win over Wigan. We have beaten Leeds so if we beat Wigan again we are pushing the momentum we need to get to the semis and the final."

Saints return to Langtree Park after two fine wins away from home which have done much to wipe away the awful run that set in after the cup knockout.

The Londoner said: "The defeat to Leeds in the semi-final hit us hard. We thought we would win and go to the final - this is what this club does. Personally it would have been great for me.

"We suffered a couple of bad defeats afterwards so to turn it around against Leeds at Leeds was good. We then went to Cas where you saw two teams that like to throw the ball around. It was a good game but both defences weren't at their best of course!

"Our attack is going well but we need to turn up our defence a bit and we will be fine.

"That is what won us the Grand Final last year. We hadn't any half backs; it was a great effort and the team responded from the injuries we had all year. It's clear that a team that defends the best will win it."