SAINTS boss Kieron Cunningham has vowed to carry on working tirelessly to turn around the team’s fortunes after the latest defeat brought a barrage of criticism.

Fans booed the team off after they had slumped to a 48-20 loss against Huddersfield Giants at Magic.

Although the team is still in fifth, four points off the leaders, the manner of a series of high profile losses this term - Salford away, Sydney Roosters in the World Club, Wigan on Good Friday and the heavy Challenge Cup mauling by Hull FC - have left a strong body of the club’s support to call for change.

Cunningham as a player and assistant coach, is the only individual to have featured in every single Saints trophy success of the summer era since 1996 - and as such earned legendary status on the terraces.

But that does not appear to be translating into support for him as a coach with fans using whatever medium they have available to call for him to go.

But Cunningham took the criticism on the chin, calling on those supporters to keep faith,

He said: “There’s still plenty to play for this year.

“Everyone is entitled to an opinion – as much as what people think of me and say about me – I am working tirelessly to turn things around.

“There’s plenty of rugby in this year and we have got opportunities to do good things this year.

“If you look where teams have won the comp from in the past.

“We might have to do it the tough way for a period of time but we are going to have to find some consistency.”

Cunningham may have enjoyed a glittering career as a player, but that was punctuated by some bad patches.

The time he badly broke and dislocated his elbow in the 2002 Great Britain test series and then the period when he was shunted into the pack as ‘roving go forward’ while Ian Millward put Micky Higham to nine will have been testing times that he managed to overcome.

But each coaching difficulty presents a huge new challenge to the 39-year-old coach.

But Cunningham, who is in his second season in the job after spending two-and-a-half years as an assistant, remains determined to succeed.

“As a coach everything rests on your shoulders.

“If the players are not doing what they should be doing on the field then the buck stops with me, but I knew that from day one.

“People have said I’m no good since I was 15. I am used to that, but the day I lose my direction and the belief of what I can do is the day that I’ll hang up my coaching boots.

“I know where we have got to head as a club.

“I know what we have got to do recruiting wise and what we have to do work wise.

“People are entitled to their opinions, they work hard for the money they spend here.

“I just ask people to stand tall with us and and believe in us for the time being.

“We are going through a transitional period with leaders, we will get through that and still have a good enough squad to win this competition this year,” he said.

Cunningham will be looking at the players he expects to get back - Jonny Lomax and Mark Percival - who add some significant strike to his attack.

But the next three weeks will see a huge test for his side - with a home game with Warrington sandwiched between aways at Hull and Catalans.