KEIRON Cunningham paid tribute to his side's grit and determination after they ended a three-game losing streak at Huddersfield.

Saints had to dig deep to see off the Giants 11-8 at the John Smiths Stadium to end a gruelling Easter block of fixtures with a win.

It was not pretty and Saints were temporarily reduced to 12 men in the second half when Masoe Masoe was sin-binned for a late tackle on Jamie Ellis.

Cunningham said: "It has been tough for everyone involved in this three game section of the competition.

"We were tired and hung on in there. You've heard me say all season how good this group are - we weren't smart at times - but true determination and grit got us through the day."

Saints trailed 6-0 for most of the first half, but Jordan Turner sent them in level-pegging at the break.

There were no further tries in the second half as Saints ground out their first win at Huddersfield since 2010 through the boot of Travis Burns and Luke Walsh.

"It was a really scrappy game; an old school dog fight in the middle with not a lot of entertainment or skill going on. We just had to grind it out.

"I thought we deserved a little more from the three games but we were looking at a fourth loss in a row, which is unusual for this club.

"The players were ready for it and although it wasn't the greatest game we will take the points and move on to next week," Cunningham said.

All the focus, understandably, was on Luke Walsh - playing his first game since July - with Jon Wilkin and Travis Burns also returning after Easter absences.

Walsh played the last 25 minutes and helped steer the ship through rocky waters.

Cunningham added: "Luke got through unscathed. That was always going to be the worrying thing coming back from injury and he went as good as I expected him to.

"With the drop goal he did what Danny Brough has been doing all his life and brought us home.

"It was good to get them through as we're pretty busted at the moment with a few long term injuries.

"We also look like we have lost Matty Dawson for eight to ten weeks also.

"A lot of other teams in the comp are in the same situation and hopefully we will keep on hanging in there and get better in attack.

"As a coach I have to get the team going well in attack again and I am confident we can do that.

"We need to rumble along, get points, and then those injuries players will come back for the run in.

"That will make us more healthier if we can stay reasonably fit."