JUSTIN Holbrook says there is no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’ following his Saints side’s failure to reach the Challenge Cup Final but concedes some fixing is required, writes Nathan Okell.

Putting right what went wrong in the 35-16 loss to Catalans Dragons in Bolton on Sunday will likely be explored and acted upon for several weeks, not just leading into tonight’s opening Super 8s encounter against Huddersfield Giants at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

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Such has been the impact on the camp of only the third loss – albeit one of enormous magnitude – in 26 games, Holbrook feels his Super League leaders can only benefit from returning to match action.

And getting stuck-in to a fifth-placed Huddersfield side that are desperate for points to keep alive their own top-four hopes this season will provide a stern test.

“It’s definitely a wake-up call but unfortunately it happened on our biggest day and we didn’t want that to happen,” said Holbrook.

“We’ve got some big games coming up in the Super League season and we’ve got to try and work out over the next few weeks what went wrong and what we’ve got to do to fix it.

“When you look at the game back over, the first 20 minutes we made five errors from different guys and it was 30 degrees and it was perfect for Catalans.

“We have made errors in other games, and we’ve been a good enough side to get away with it, but not errors to the extent we did against Catalans.

“It made it too hard for us and our defence became shoddy as a result of that.

“We had too many players run off their feet and it’s disappointing because that’s not how we’ve played all year.

“We’ve only got ourselves to blame and the learning curve for us is not to make errors like that.”

While acknowledging that his side must learn from the cup loss, Holbrook believes it is going to take time for both players and coaching staff to get over the result.

“I don’t expect us to be at our best on Friday night as we’ve been through a lot this week, but we need to get back on track.

“We’ve definitely taken a battering from Sunday’s game, but we’ve had to dust ourselves down over the past few days.

“It will be hard for both the players and me, but we’ve had a couple of days to get over it.

“It will sit with us for a long time, let alone a few weeks, but the best thing for us to do is to play again Friday night and that’s the only way to get over things.

“We don’t want to lose confidence in the way we’ve been playing, we’ve just got to get back to playing how we have been all year.”

No changes in personnel have been made, with Holbrook wanting his players to 'jump back on the horse' in what he expects to be a tough encounter.

“Had we won on the weekend and had bumps and bruises, I would have rested and not risked players.

“We have been great and won 24 or 25 games and then lost on the weekend, so we don’t need to reinvent anything to work out that we’re a good side.

“It’s just a reality check but I wish it had come in a different game and not a Challenge Cup semi-final.

“The cup would have been a good bonus, but it’s out of our hands now, and the good thing is that we get to play again and it’s not the last game of the season.

“Huddersfield have got to win all their games to make the top four and we’ve drawn them first up.

“That makes it a bit harder but the best thing for us to do is to play again soon, and that will help myself and all the playing group to get back out there.”