SAINTS boss Justin Holbrook is looking for improvement in some basics as they prepare to tackle second-place Salford Red Devils on Friday night.

Once again ball control, or lack of it, was a key factor in pulling the rug away from any chance Saints had of producing a winning performance at Huddersfield.

If that is not sorted out this week, Saints can kiss goodbye to any hopes of maintaining their remarkable record of being the only team to make every knock-out play off, since the divisions split in 1973.

Holbrook said: “Ball control is definitely a worry.

“We got away with it against Widnes and nearly got away with it again and were still in the game with three minutes to go.

“But we can’t keep doing that, it is just hurting us.

“It is definitely the biggest area of improvement for us.

“It comes down to individuals concentrating on whether they want to pass it or get tackled.

“It is not about chancing our arm too much, so it is not a case of us needing to tighten up and stop passing the ball, because that is not where we are making those errors.

“Rather, it is just dumb or poor carries, getting tackled and losing it or throwing it out and nobody being around.

“There are a number of reasons for this but not one of them is through trying to play too expansively.

“We don’t want to tighten up and stop playing but it is matter of being aware of how secure we hold the ball.

“Without doubt it is holding us back as a team - it is just fundamental errors.

“We have been working on trying to fix it in training, but this is about accountability individually and to each other, hopefully that will improve on Friday.”

Handling errors on Friday were compounded by an off colour display by linchpin Matty Smith, which twice included kicking the ball out on the full.

In mitigation Smith had a disrupted week with his wife giving birth to twin girls on Wednesday, but deciding to play despite being given the option of sitting it out by coach Holbrook.

“Matty had a disruptive week last week and did not have his best game, that was obvious,” Holbrook said.

“The beautiful arrival of two girls is great for his family and exciting for him but he knows he needs a good week at training to bounce back against Salford.

“I had given him the option of not playing at Huddersfield and told him not to put pressure on himself to play. I was ok if he did not want to but he wanted to.”