SAINTS boss Justin Holbrook was delighted to see his side overcome some adversity to claim their eighth win of the year.

They lost four key men from the original 19 at the last moment – and then saw Theo Fages go off with a hip injury midway through the first half.

Having taken an 16-0 lead, Rovers led at half time and then again in the second half before three Saints tries clinched it.

Holbrook said: “It was a difficult due to Hull KR playing well, plus all the chopping and changing we had to do last minute before the game.

“That was a massive win for us.

“It was a mixed bag. Mark Percival was sick yesterday, Robes just had some niggles, Zeb Taia’s has just had a baby so did not play.

"Alex Walmsley was going to play – but left the ground at 6.30 to rush to his partner having a baby.

“Then we lost Theo after 20 minutes – so that is a huge win to have four out late in the week and then to lose your half back.

“It may have been easy to say this is too hard and we found ourselves in a tough spot.

“We started well, Hull KR came back.

“For us to play as well as we did in the second half is a massive win for us.”

Holbrook paid tribute to the young players who stepped in to fill the void, with Aaron Smith filling Roby’s spot for 80, Jack Welsby replacing Percival to start in the centres, and James Bentley starting off in the pack before moving out into the three-quarters.

How the game was won

“For Aaron Smith to play 80 minutes was huge and I thought Jack Welsby to come in at last minute to play centre and then get switched to the halves was great; he is happy to play anywhere and is a skilful young player.

“And it was a huge effort from James Bentley after not expecting to play until 6.30pm .

“It was also a big effort from those boys who played big minutes too – like Luke Thompson and Morgan Knowles who stepped up tonight.

“And then we had Lachlan Coote game managing that back end of the game and that was massive for us,” Holbrook said.

Fages went off after 20 minutes with a hip injury, and is a doubt for next week against Catalans.

Picture gallery and match summary

Holbrook explained: “Theo has hurt his hip in an oblique area – and he just could not run.

“I am not sure at this early stage in terms of time, whether he can play next week.

“He is a tough little competitor so for him to have to come off clearly there was something wrong.”