INTERIM joint coach Derek Traynor has given a positive assessment of Saints' two Easter displays.

But nobody is getting carried away and there is no room for slips or complacency ahead of Friday's trip to bottom-placed Widnes Vikings.

Saints produced a terrific display with 12 men at Wigan and then backed up with win over leaders Castleford.

Traynor said: “The two points were vital on Monday.

“The performance against Wigan was very good, with 12 men, but you come away with no points.

“Then you play a red-hot Cas side that is scoring points for fun.

“We were desperate to get the win to give us something to build on, go forward and start fighting our way up the league.

“We are are not happy where we are and is not something we are used to.

“Anxiety builds up and to be fair the lads in the dressing room said they could feel the anxiety out there because they need the points so much. That showed at times in the performance.

“Cas had earmarked this game because they had not won here since 1992, they came to play but we were desperate for the points and wanted to get something out of Easter after all the hard work.”

One of the highlights of the weekend was the form of debutant Regan Grace.

The young Welshman scored in both games and had the crowd on its feet.

Having seen Grace develop through the junior ranks since heading north, Traynor is better placed than most to judge how to handle the new crowd favourite.

Traynor added: “Regan is a level headed, down to earth kid so he will not get carried away with it.

“He knows he has got a lot of work to do. He has got a lot of work to do.

“He is a great athlete with a lot going for him, but he is not the finished article yet and he knows that himself.

“He has good staff here working with him.

“Our job is to turn him into a ten-year Saints Super League player, but he has a long way to go to that.

“He is going to have some hiccups and some bumps along the way, and knocks to his confidence.

“That is when he will need the fans to get behind him and I am sure they will, but hopefully we can turn him that 10-year Saint.”

When Jonny Lomax returns to fitness, probably for the Leigh game, that will leave Saints with a real selection conundrum.

But that is what the club wants.

Traynor added: “We want that all over the park where senior players think ‘some of these kids are a threat to me’.

“We want those kids going in thinking they can nail down a shirt if they are on form.

“We want that all over the park.”

There is now real pressure on jerseys and the staff have made it clear there are no favourites.

“The lads are looking at themselves.

“In general this year we have put in two decent performances then dropped off against what you would not class as top teams.

“We can’t afford to do that.

“We are chasing that top four and we have got to put a run of games together we cant allow ourselves to drop our intensity and standards that we have set over Easter.

“We will take every game as it comes and prepare for it, but ultimately we want to put a run together, build some momentum and get points off the teams above us and around us.

“As a coaching team that is what we are going to putting into the lads.

“But ultimately they know they need to perform to keep that shirt.”

Saints’ game at Widnes kicks off at 8pm, that is followed the week later by a home game versus Leigh.